


Loki, the Undying

by Aeternus_Flamma



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Loki-centric, Not Currently A Romance, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Save the Universe, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 06:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14514267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeternus_Flamma/pseuds/Aeternus_Flamma
Summary: [Post Infinity War, Major Spoilers Inside] Apparently, the phrase 'Undying' was the perfect choice of words in relation to Loki.[Additional summary will come later, after the masses have had a chance to see the movie!]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Loki, the Undying  
> Aeternus.Flamma  
> Rated: T  
> Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

As his limp body floated through space, occasionally bumping into the body of another Asgardian, he clung to life, if only by a very thin, invisible thread. His bloodshot eyes turned into ruby red, and pale skin slowly tinged blue. Even in the absolute worst of situations, a Jotun’s body was hardier than most.

Of course, Loki was unaware of the changes his body made to keep him alive.

He remained unconscious, in a state of suspended animation, as a small ship picked through the remains of the Asgardian wreckage, looting corpses of their valuable armor and weapons. This ship had appeared long after another ship had combed through and picked up who they believed to be the only living being left in destruction. 

“Is that… a Jotun?”

“Out here? I didn’t think they left their realm--”

“He’s still alive! The scanners are picking up life--”

“Bring him aboard.”

“You’re joking! We can’t possible handle a living Jotun--”

“Besides, why should we listen to you? You’re only along for the ride--”

Of the four person crew, only one was left alive in the moments that followed, and Loki was brought on board. 

“You’re the most valuable thing in this wreckage, Prince of Asgard.”

000

 

His first gasps of air were painful. He wheezed as he grasped at his throat, and then winced when his fingers touched tender flesh. How was he alive? He should have been dead! He swore he was dead, and that he was finally going to have to face a moral reckoning in the after life. 

And yet, here he was. He was in a small house, lying on a bed in nothing but a pair of loose fitting trousers. There were two windows open in the room, both of which were open with cream drapes billowing as cool air poured into the room. Despite the breeze, Loki found that he was uncomfortably warm. 

He also found that he was blue. 

“No…” His voice came out as nothing more than a hoarse whisper. He hated seeing his blue skin. Regardless, he slowly moved one leg over the side of the bed and then the other. The room was rather bare, save for a dresser with a vanity and a wash basin. Loki approached the mirror and inspected his neck.

He could see the bruising left behind by Thanos. His blue skin was darker, almost black, with the imprints in the shape of large fingers. Gingerly, Loki touched the marks, hissing as he did so. He could feel that there was some sort of residue left behind on his skin, quite recently as well, since it was wet. 

Wiping a bit of the liquid off, Loki inspected it. Whatever it was, it seemed to smell like an herbal remedy. Clearly he had a caretaker while he was unconscious. (Really, how was he not dead!)

Unconscious… Loki swallowed hard, ignoring the pain in his throat. He returned to the bed and dropped down to it, putting his head into his hands. He had truly, honestly not planned to survive this time around. The two other times he had died, he had escape routes--or at least, the will to live. Seeing the last of the Asgardians die, seeing his brother being scorched by the Power Gem, seeing the Hulk, the Hulk for Odin’s sake!, be tossed around like a rag doll…

He had always known that Thanos was the real threat, the biggest threat. Thanos was the villain that made Loki realize how tiny and insignificant Loki really was. He had hoped that if he failed, he would die quickly so that he did not have to suffer this reality alone. 

And yet, here he was. He was alive, and he was, presumably, alone. He was, possibly, the last survivor. Perhaps it was his doom--his punishment. For how incredibly badly he wanted to rule, he was forced to live as a King of Nothing, with all of his people dead.

Loki took a moment to collect his thoughts. What was his plan of action? Finding Thor, he supposed, was his first priority. Well, no, that wasn’t true. He needed to find clothes first. Then Thor. Then they either needed to put as much distance between themselves and Thanos as possible, or do something about the Infinity Stones. He knew which option he preferred, and he knew which one Thor would prefer. He supposed that meant they would be going with the latter option. 

Unfortunately, there weren’t many clothing options for someone of his stature in the drawers. He pulled a cream colored tunic from one of the drawers and tugged it on--it was tight in the sleeves, but it would due. Shoes. Shoes were next. His magic was too far depleted to create or summon anything for himself--he couldn’t even keep up his Aesir disguise, which had done naturally since he was a child. 

Loki tried the door and found it unlocked. He opened it as quietly as he could and stood for a moment, listening to the sounds of the house. As far as he could tell, he was alone. He couldn’t hear any other sounds of movement.

Weapon. I need a weapon.

Of course, his very hands were weapons of sorts, as just about all creatures succumbed to the natural frostbite of Jotun skin. However he’d rather not rely on such tactics if he could avoid it. He did not like his Jotun nature and did not care to use it. Creeping out of the room, Loki headed to the right--to a set of stairs.

The downstairs was just as bright and airy as the upstairs. The smell of food wafted through the hallways, luring Loki towards the kitchen. There was no one inside, but there was a plate of cured meat sitting near some bread. Despite the fact that he didn’t necessarily need to eat to stay alive, his body forced him to step into the kitchen and devour the food without a second thought. There was a pitcher nearby as well, filled with some sort of citrusy drink. Loki drank directly from the pitcher, ignoring the ache in his throat. 

Feeling at least a bit satisfied, Loki turned to scouring for a weapon. It took a few tries, but he was able to find a drawer with sharp knives--not ideal, but better than nothing. 

Loki continued to scout out the house, but saw no signs of life beyond a feline of sorts that growled at him when he approached. He raised a brow and stepped away, ignoring it after that. When he failed to find anyone else in the sparsely furnished house, he took to the outside.

He wasn’t sure what planet he was on. There was a dark orange sun the horizon with a ringed planet in the distance. The little house stood on its own with no other structures in sight. There were mountains to either side of him and lush blue-green all around. Loki couldn’t be sure, but it seemed that ahead of the house there were fields, leading him to believe he was on a farm.

The grass actually felt wonderful on his bare feet--it had been a long time since he was somewhere with this much lush wildlife: he had been in space, after all, and before that on Sakaar which was an absolute shit-hole, if he were honest. If he hadn’t had such a pressing need to get back to Thor and attempt to stop Thanos, this place seemed like it could be a quite nice place for a bit of recovery time--recovery time he apparently desperately needed, based on the condition of his body.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Loki neared the back of the building. He poked his head around and finally found who he assumed as the owner of the house. 

There was a young woman kneeling on the ground, covered in dirt. She had a hat on, likely to protect her from the sun and inadvertently shielding her face from him, and dirty gloves that went to just about her elbows. From his distance, Loki could just barely hear her humming. She appeared to be gardening. 

Loki licked his lips and contemplated what to do. Should he use his silver-tongue and try to convince her to help him get off this planet? Or should he use the knife in his hand to give her no choice? 

Option two seemed to be the best course of action; in his Jotun form, after all, he was hardly a charismatic being. She was more likely to go off screaming if he were to approach her. 

Loki moved as silently as he could so that he could his his presence until the very last moment. Just as he came within a few steps of the woman, his shadow fell over her, causing her to quickly stand up in panic. 

As she stood, Loki grabbed her by the back of her shirt and threw her to the ground. She rolled over and tried to crawl away, but he lunged forward, pinning her on her stomach. “Who are you, and where am I?” He spat out, holding the blade to her neck. He was careful not to touch her directly, as he knew that even if not intentional, he could still blacken her skin. She struggled for a brief moment, but felt the point of the knife on her neck and squealed. 

“Cassiopeia! My name is Cassiopeia, and you’re on Raynarn! Please don’t hurt me!”

“How did I get here?” Loki bunched up the fabric of her shirt and lifted her just about an inch before roughly pushing her back into the ground. He wanted to keep her jarred and off-guard until he had all of the information he needed. 

She coughed on grass and dirt. “A friend found you adrift in space! She brought you here to recover! I’m an herbalist and have basic medical training!”

Loki took a moment to think about her words. As far as he could tell, that seemed a likely story. “And the others? What of the others I was with?”

“I don’t know--” Loki shook her roughly again at her words, “--I swear I don’t know! I was told you were the only survivor!”

Of course, it’s what he expected. If he had truly been set adrift in space, it’s possible that he could have been the only one to last very long due to his Jotun nature. But Thor--Thor could have survived too. He just knew it. Maybe he had managed to make it out a different way. Maybe Thanos took him. 

“And you, what, just decided to take in a strange man? You’re alone out here, defenseless. How stupid can you be?”

“Pretty stupid, I guess,” she replied bitterly, trying to turn her head a bit further to the side. With her hat now a few feet away, her hair, dark and braided, was in her face. “There’s just been so much death that I couldn’t turn you away! Half the people on our planet just disappeared! I had to do something!”

Loki loosened his grip on the woman and moved the knife away a bit. “Half of your people disappeared?”

“Yes! And not just here! Other posts I do trading with off-planet said the same thing! Half the people just… just gone! Dissolved into nothing! No one knows what happened!”

Closing his eyes, Loki released the woman and then lifted his knee off of her back. He put his head back and sighed. He was too late--there were all too late. Thanos had already done it. He had already succeeded in his plan, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Half of the people in the entire universe…. Just gone. 

And here he was, stuck on some farming planet, not knowing if anyone else he knew survived. He was alone. He was a survivor, but he was alone. He supposed he was doomed to forever be Loki, the Undying.


	2. Chapter 2

**I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE STORY. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND.**

 

“So that’s what happened,” the woman, Cassiopeia, sighed and set down a food bowl for her cat. The feline creature, which was a bit larger than the cats that Loki was familiar with, had a long tail with a tuft at the bottom and vibrant black and grey stripes. Its ears were large and pointed, and it growled whenever Cassiopeia neared him.

Loki had just explained to her what he could about Thanos and his goals, and told her that he assumed that the mad Titan had succeeded. Of course, all of this was after their incident in the garden, which she was surprisingly quick to forgive him for. If he were to take a guess, he would say that she was lonely. There was no one else around for leagues—and that wasn’t even the result of Thanos’s decimation. There had hardly been anyone out there to begin with, it seemed.

Cassiopiea was a lovely woman, though perhaps a bit naïve. Loki had never been to this planet, Raynarn, and he had never met any of its natives. Based on the few pictures around the house, they all appeared to be similar to Cassiopea—mostly humanoid, with a few exaggerated features. She was tan, though he did not know if that was her natural coloring for from working outside, with large, brown eyes, and long, pointed ears.

After their initial meeting—or at least, initial after Loki was awake—she dug out some clothes for him and showed him how to work the shower, which fell directly from holes in the ceiling, mimicking rain. It was quite refreshing.

Then she made him dinner.

Loki sat across from her, picking at his meal. He had already devoured some of her food without any second thoughts, and so far, he had no ill side effects. He supposed that if Thanos couldn’t kill him, it was unlikely that anything she could try to poison him with would do him in either. She asked him questions over dinner, primarily about other planets and places he had been. She appeared to be legitimately interested in what he had to say.

What bothered him was not the attention she gave him. He was used to it, of course. He could command a conversation most anywhere he went, beyond Asgard of course, and people found him quite charming. He knew just what to say and how to say it to keep people hanging on his words—it was why he was called Loki Silver-tongue, after all. What bothered him was the way she looked at him.

As if he were normal.

As if he weren’t _blue._

Either she didn’t know what a Jotun was, or… Well there was no ‘or.’ Hotuns were reputed monsters in all of the Nine Realms, not just on Asgard. They were considered barbaric killers, albeit killers who rarely left their planet. But this woman did nothing, she barely even reacted when he shattered a glass after getting a bit worked up while talking of Thanos and freezing its contents.

She merely stood, gave him a wooden cup, and brushed up the glass shards.

“So what will you do now?” Cassiopeia asked, sliding the cat’s bowl a bit closer with her foot. It growled again and took a swipe at her.

“That cat doesn’t seem to like you very much.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, stepping away. “It was my friend’s cat. I took him in after she… well, you know. Disappeared. Couldn’t bear to leave him on his own.”

Loki wiped his mouth and set down his napkin, pushing his plate away from him. It hurt to swallow, but it felt good to eat and drink. He felt like he was alive, which, to be honest, he had never, ever been more grateful for. Despite that, there was a pit in his stomach that grew each time he thanked Odin for his life. He supposed it was what other people called _survivor’s guilt._

Was Thor sitting down to a table to eat? Even if he had the capability or the chance, he probably wasn’t. He was probably already working on a plan to reverse the damage Thanos had done. Loki wasn’t sure it was possible. He knew the power of the tesseract, and he knew the power that had been in his scepter. Thor had told him that the mind gem had been in his scepter the entire time! He had not one but _two_ infinity gems at his fingertips, and he let them slip away.

If he could go back in time to that moment, he would…. He didn’t know what he would do. But he would decidedly _not_ let the Chitauri into New York. He would _not_ fight Avengers. He would _not_ do any of Thanos’s bidding.

Of course, it was easier to think these things than actually know if he would change anything if he had the chance. The Other, one of Thanos’s minions, had been in his head at the time. He had a direct connection to Thanos and Loki knew that he would have had to sever that tie in order to try to change anything.

Well, it was a nice thought, but surely impossible.

Right?

Loki ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his neck as he did so. “Is there any way off of this planet?”

Cassiopeia shrugged as she took his plates and set them in the sink. “Well, not easily. We’re a trading post planet, but not many come here, ‘cept for a few times a year. We do a lot of farming, and send our excess off the planet. We always have a lot of excess, but now we may not have the hands to work the fields. Of course, if you think about it, we may not have a lot of demand now. If half the universe is gone, I guess that’s a lot less people to feed. We may have even fewer traders this year.”

Loki nodded to himself. There was a way off the planet, but it would be difficult. Likely harder in his blue form as well. “And how long can I stay here? If your, ah, friend who found me planning on returning for me at some point?”

“I suppose you can stay as long as you want. I’ve got room. I’ve got food. It’s no bother to have some company for a while. As for my friend… I don’t really know. I guess, I don’t even know if she’s alive. You were dropped off just a little before people started disappearing. For all I know, she disappeared too…”

 

Loki didn’t sleep that night. He had felt he had slept long enough. The skyline was quite impressive at night, and though it was dark, a large moon emitted a soft glow. Loki sat for what must have been hours, staring at that moon. There were insects in the trees chirping all night. Part of him was extremely annoyed at the sound, but another part of him found the rhythmic hum soothing. He didn’t want to be soothed, however. He wanted to be angry. Being angry made him want to take action.

He hated feeling like he should just give up. Asgard was gone, so there was nothing else for him to rule. Thor could be dead, so there was no one else for him to compete with. Thanos had won, so there were no other villains for him either serve or oppose. Why couldn’t he just be happy with a quiet life somewhere?

Things had been fantastic on Sakaar. He had a wonderful little existence there. He was well liked, he had amassed a small fortune, and he could get away with causing a small amount of trouble. He could possibly go back. He could live out his days gambling and drinking. That didn’t seem so bad, did it?

Maybe it didn’t, but he couldn’t help feeling so _empty_. In the past, no matter where he went, he knew that there was always a chance to go _home_. He knew that Asgard was still thriving, or that Thor was probably okay. But not now. Now he felt alone.

Finally, when the sounds of the night became too much for him, Loki returned to the house. He flipped on a light in the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards. Surely there had to be some alcohol in this place. Farmers were always the first people to find a way to make booze. When he had no luck, he went to the basement.

It was very dark down there, and there was only one dim light. Despite that, Loki could see quite well—one of the few benefits of his Jotun nature. There were many boxes stacked in the basement. Some seemed rather old and partially rotted away, some were rather new. There were stamps and stickers, even a few brands in the containers that indicated they had come from other planets. He supposed that Cassiopeia would have to stock up for months at a time if the traders came through so rarely.

With a sigh, Loki stepped towards one of the boxes and tore it open: miscellaneous fabrics and clothes. That made sense. Shopping was likely rare in this area. She likely had to make and repair her own clothing. Another box was half open, that had spare parts for machinery. He hadn’t seen any farming equipement, but he hadn’t taken a walk into the fields yet.

A few boxes later, he finally found what he was looking for. Alcohol.

And boy did he hit the motherload.

“Does she even _know_ what she has here? How could she have managed to get her hands on this stuff?” There were bottles of Revvyat Wine, covered in dust, in one of the boxes. Revvyat Wine was extremely rare, and she had an entire _case_. He had only had it once before, on Sakaar, and that was because someone traded the Grand Master for one of his warriors. Even Asgard didn’t get Revvyat Wine, but that was because it was usually only acquired through illegal means.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if some of the disreputable sort fueled up here. Wonder what she gave them for this,” he muttered as he took a bottle and returned to the stairs. He looked around at the numerous other boxes he hadn’t explored. Well, at the very least, if he were going to be stuck there for some time, he could do something interesting with his time.

 

In the morning, Loki woke to fingers around his neck. Thoughts of Thanos flooded back to him as he grabbed the hands and jerked them away from him. He sat up abruptly, keeping his hands on the thin wrists of his attacker. It took him a few moments to realize it was Cassiopeia before him.

He quickly released her.

“You fool,” he hissed, “don’t you know how dangerous it is to touch a Jotun!?”

She looked up at him with bewildered brown eyes and then smiled. She held up her wrists to him, showing off his handy work. They had already blackened. Fear and panic set in, thinking that he had accidentally harmed an innocent person—she could lose her hands!

However, as he stared at her, her smile didn’t disappear. Instead, the black slowly started to fade away, leaving behind just her regular, tanned skin.

“Don’t worry, I heal extremely quickly. That’s how I’ve been able to apply salve to your bruises. You can’t really hurt me as fast as I heal. It just feels a bit numb, and then goes away. I told you, I have some medical training. I didn’t always live here. I spent some time one our sister planets during the Ring Wars. You’re a pretty useful medic when you’re really hard to kill.”

“Wouldn’t you have been a better soldier?”

Cassiopeia shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t like fighting.”

Loki nodded slowly and felt his neck. There was some sort of paste on his neck, likely the same as whatever he had felt the day before.

“The bruising was pretty terrible when you came here. It’s been slow, but I’ve been able to speed up the healing.”

“Wonderful,” he replied, thinking that his bruising was the least of his concerns. “Now you wouldn’t happen to have something that could restore magical powers, would you?”

Cassiopeia turned her head to the side, her braid falling over her shoulder. “Magic? Why would you need that something to restore that?”

Loki tried not to roll his eyes, not that it was even noticeable with his ruby red eye coloring. “I don’t _always_ look like this. Only when my magic has been depleted. I need it back if I am ever going to leave this place.”

“Oh,” she replied, nodding slowly. “Actually, I think I can make something for that.”

000

Time passed differently on Titan, that much Tony knew. He couldn’t tell if it was a natural side effect of the planet and its relation to a sun, or if it was the result of the Time Stone. Either way, he was stuck there, with no way to go home. He had survived Thanos, only to die on Titan.

And Pepper… He was starting to think he was doomed to never have the life he wanted. He had everything a man could ask for, but he continuously had to go off and put himself in danger. And for what? He had failed. Was Pepper even alive on Earth? Even if he could make it home and find her alive, would she forgive him?

No, he doubted it.

But it didn’t matter. He was going to die there.

Maybe.

“Humans need to eat, if I’m not mistaken,” a cold voice came from somewhere behind him. A packet of _something_ was thrown to him. “I’ve only met Quill, but he seemed to need to eat.”

It was the blue woman who had joined the fight. The one that had alerted Star-Lord to the fact that Gamora was likely dead. The one that had ruined their plan. Tony wanted to be angry with her, but he didn’t have the energy. He felt empty. Hopeless. He was in the vastness of space, a scientist’s dream, but he was alone.

“Your suit. It repaired itself. I want that tech.”

Tony jumped up, throwing the supposed food pouch to the side. “You want this tech? Yeah, awesome. So do it. I can’t repair myself out here in the middle of freakin’ no where! My nano-tech can’t repair, I don’t have a ship that isn’t broken into two pieces, and I’m going to lose my damned mind here before I die!”

The blue woman—was she a woman? Yes, Tony decided it was a woman—looked suitably unimpressed by him. Then again, she had just faced down Thanos. He supposed he wasn’t near threatening enough after that. Tony collapsed and put his head into his hands, his hands that had held Peter not too long before, maybe, and watched him fade away into nothingness.

Pepper better not be pregnant. All Tony would do is get their child killed.

“You think you’re the only one who’s lost something?” The woman asked, raising a mechanical brow. “I just lost everything. A father I spent my life hating, and a sister I realized I loved too late. Are you going to do something about it, or just sit here in self pity?”

Tony stared up at her.

“And what should I be doing, Blue?”

“We get the time gem.”

It was Tony’s turn to raise his brow. “We?”

The woman shrugged. “I’d trust a man of metal more than I’d trust most. My name’s Nebula, not _Blue_.”

A rush of andrenaline that Tony didn’t even know he had left surged through him and he stood. “Okay. Okay, yeah. That’s something. The Time Gem.”

“But first, we need to make some repairs. Can you replicate the tech that repaired your suit?” Nebula asked, nodding towards the pieces of Tony’s Iron Man suit that were still slowly trying to repair, even now.

“With the right lab, I could.”

“Okay,” she said and turned. “Take that food packet. Eat it. Then we’ll go to a trading post I know of. They have an independent lab we may be able to… commandeer.”

“Commandeer. I like it.” Tony replied and snatched up the food pouch. He gave a quick look around to the broken planet that had become a graveyard. Time Stone. Yes. Good. He could fix this. He had to. He couldn’t possibly live with the survivor’s guilt building up inside of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha! Yes, see, this is an Avengers story! This plot will incorporate some things I know of the comics, as well as some theories for the sequel. I have no idea what is correct, so any similarities is mostly me getting lucky with a few people spewing theories at me! Again, a reminder, this is NOT a romance. Do you want Loki to have *some* romance? Let me know. If people think he should get some romance, I’ll write it in. Otherwise, well, you’ll see. Romance isn’t my forte, and if I write it, it’s extremely slow burn.


	3. Chapter 3

“I think he likes you more than he likes me.”

“Yes, well, I’ve always had an affinity for animals,” Loki replied and tossed a balled up sock down the length of the backyard. The cat, Kylepo, ran down, snatched it up, and dropped it in front of Loki again. As it turned out, the feline was far more like a dog than a cat. When Loki didn’t throw the sock again, the cat stepped up to him and pawed at his knee. It had already learned not to touch Loki’s exposed skin, now that it had a bandaged right paw.

Loki turned and looked up at Cassiopeia. She had a basket in her arms, filled with some sort of leafy plant. He stood and picked up a piece. It looked like a wide piece of lettuce with blue veining in the center. “So this is the one? It can restore my magic faster?”

Cassiopeia shrugged. “I believe so. I don’t know how fast is fast, but I was able to use this during the War to help treat some of the individuals people had dubbed mages. We didn’t have many with actual mystical ability, to be honest. They could do little bits of summoning and such. If it helped them, then it could help you. If you’re worried about trying it though—

Loki shook his head. “No, no, I am willing. Anything to be able to return to my true form.”

The woman turned her head to the side a bit and raised her brow. She clearly had something she wanted to say, but was holding back.

“Well, what is it? Do you have thoughts on my blue form as well?”

“I don’t know… It’s just… well, I know it isn’t my place to say. Everyone has their reasons for hiding, and I understand that. But, well, isn’t _this_ your true form? Won’t you just be using your magic to hide your real self?”

Loki frowned and stepped away from Cassiopeia. “Yes, it certainly isn’t your place to say.” He placed his hands together behind his back and turned to face the fields. “You’re a lovely young woman and wouldn’t understand the need to hide yourself from the world. People don’t enjoy looking at a monster, no matter how civilized we might be.”

There were a few moments of silence between them before he could hear Cassiopeia start to step away. “I might understand,” she replied, her voice low and uncharacteristically icy. By the time he realized that the words were out of character for the woman he had only known for a short time, she was already gone.

Kylepo stared at Cassiopeia until she had entered the house and then picked up the balled sock to drop it in front of Loki’s feet again.

“I suppose it isn’t as if I have something better to do,” he sighed and tossed the makeshift toy down the yard once more.

 

Days turned into a week, and then a week into a month. Loki tried his best to enjoy his forced vacation as much as possible, but it grew difficult. He replayed images he hated constantly, and then turned towards forming some sort of plan to leave the planet to perhaps find Thor. However even after nearly a month, he still found that he was only able to hold his Aesir form for a few hours at a time. Coming so close to death had truly wiped out his ability to use natural magic.

When he couldn’t hold his form, he took towards practicing other magics that Frigga had taught him. It pained him to return to the basic lessons his adoptive mother had made him do over and over again, but it brought him some comfort knowing that she didn’t have to suffer at Thanos. Having to watch her people die in front of her, only to die herself, would have been far worse. She, instead, died a hero, saving the woman that Thor loved most.

It briefly crossed his mind that even if Thor had lived, there as a chance that his woman had died. He couldn’t exactly relate to the pain of losing a beloved, but he felt for Thor. More than anything, Loki just wished that there had to be no more suffering.

He sighed and watched as a few flowers rapidly sprouted in the garden and bloomed. It was a parlor trick really, but mastering a bit of simple life magic would help to heal some of his magical channel, or at least, he hoped that it would. Loki used the last of his energy to summon a small blade—it was barely more than a razor—and slice the flowers at the base of their stem.

Flowers in hand, he headed back into the kitchen. It was dinner time.

“As much as I appreciate you ‘getting me flowers,’” Cassiopeia said as Loki dropped the flowers into a ceramic vase, “please be sure to stick to just the flower bed. My plants are on a strict growing rotation.”

Loki waved her off but said nothing. He found that she was very picky when it came to her plants and it wasn’t a fight worth having. He took his usual seat at the table, and she set down a marinated piece of meat in front of him. His usual wooden cup was already on the table as well, sitting next to a smaller cup with an unappetizing green and blue mixture in it. It was his ‘medicine’ as she had taken to calling it—a terrible concoction that was to help with his magic. He supposed it was working, though not very quickly.

“Cassiopeia,” he said after gulping down a bite of his dinner. His bruised neck had mostly healed, thanks to the salve that she had taken to applying every morning. Loki was relieved when she had finally stopped—he did not enjoy someone else’s hands around his neck, no matter their intentions. “Why are you alone here?”

The woman smiled as she sat down with her own meal. “I’m not alone, I have you.”

He shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. This seems like an awfully large farm for one person to work. You have clothing that clearly doesn’t belong to you if it fits me, and you enough supplies in the basement to take care of at least a family of six for a year.”

Loki could see that for a moment, Cassiopeia’s smile was strained.

“Which, by the way, did you think I didn’t notice you getting into my good wine?” She said, and left it at that.

He stood, down his water in his wooden cup, and then went to the cupboard he had been using as his hiding place for the open wine. If she knew, there was no point waiting for her to go to bed to drink it. He poured himself enough to fill his cup and slid it over to her.

“What did you have to trade for this?” He asked nodding to the near empty bottle.

Cassiopeia shrugged. “What do you mean? It’s just wine.  I sent a bunch of food along with some salvagers a year or so ago, and they gave me the wine. We don’t have a lot of wine in these parts, so it seemed like a good trade. They said it was nice wine.”

Loki stared at the woman, and not for the first time, got the feeling that she was lying to him. If she was, she was a very good liar—he could typically spot a lie from a league away. “Wars have been started over this wine, and that’s absolutely not an exaggeration.”

“Really?!” She replied, peaking up and snatching the bottle. She sniffed it and then shrugged, pouring it into her cup. She took a tentative taste and frowned. “I guess it’s good. It just tastes like wine to me. I don’t drink much wine though. It’s hard—”

“—to come by. Yes, I got that. Seems odd that it would just be sitting in your basement, you understand?”

Cassiopeia frowned and calmly placed her hands down on either side of her plate. “Loki, if you’re trying to accuse me of something, why don’t you just say it? I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

Loki shook his head and took another drink. “I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m merely stating that you haven’t been entirely open with your situation here.”

“Do you think that perhaps that’s because you’ve only bothered talking about yourself since you’ve come here?”

Ah there it was again, the same icy tone she had used on rare occasions in the past.

“If that is the case, I beg your forgiveness. I suppose I never quite learned to _grieve_ properly. But here we are. This seems a perfect chance to tell me about yourself, in depth.”

In a flash, her passive expression had changed. She was smiling brightly. “Well, okay! I never get to talk about myself, this is terribly exciting. Let’s see. I told you I was a war medic. I grew up on this farm with my parents and two brothers. The property has been on my father’s side for generations. My mother was an herbalist who had spent time at the main trading post working with the doctors. There’s a large tech hub there, but sometimes, good old herbalism saves the day. She taught me everything she knew. Then the wars happened. My brothers went off to fight, and they died. I went off to work as a medic, and I lived. I came back here and worked with my parents, until they also died. A few soldiers I knew from the war would come help out seasonally, but…”

“But?” Loki pressed, continuing to casually cut up his meat. He didn’t want her to feel like she was being interrogated, but that was, in a way, what he was aiming for.

“After people started disappearing, I called them, but there was no answer. It took some work to find out, but… they didn’t make. They’re gone too now.”

Loki sighed inwardly. Apparently the woman was one of the most average, boring people he could meet. “And the cat?”

“Oh yes. Kylepo was belonged to one of the soldiers. Like I said, I just couldn’t let him go homeless.”

In the back of his mind, Loki still felt that something didn’t add up, but he couldn’t quite place his finger one what it was. He hated feeling uneasy, but he supposed feeling something was better than nothing at this point. Besides, he was highly intelligent. He was sure he would eventually figure it out on his own.

“Don’t forget, I have to go out into the fields tomorrow for some harvesting, so I won’t be around to make you lunch. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle that yourself, right?”

Loki nodded haphazardly and finished off his dinner.

“I should be home by dinner, but I’ll make you another tincture just in case I’m late.”

000

Cassiopeia was gone in the morning, just like she had said she would be. It left Loki alone long enough to head back down to the dark basement and do some more snooping. Something in the back of his head told him to do so, and not just for his own entertainment.

Upon further inspection of the basement, he made a few observations. The floor was merely dirt, so he could see a few indents where boxes had once been, and where they had been dragged. Loki began to methodically go through each of the boxes, careful to replace them just where he had found them.

For the most part, there wasn’t anything particularly _interesting_ in most of the boxes. The only thing _interesting_ was the fact that they were from all over the galaxy—and some items seemed like they would have some value. Based on the condition of a few of the objects in containers, Loki was willing to make an educated guess that many of the items in the basement were salvaged—or scavenged, more likely.

Loki had no real love for scavengers. They picked through wrecks in space, claiming only the most important or useful items. Sometimes, they were willing to board stalled ships and rob them blind while there were still living inhabitants. Loki was not at all pleased to think that someone may have done that to the Asgardian ship, which was possibly how he was found. Did Cassiopeia know the type of people who were wiling to scavenge? Was she willingly dealing with them, regardless? It was generally outlawed to barter with scavengers, but who was to stop a handful of people in the middle of nowhere from doing just that?

 Loki heard a rustling from the side, which caused him to turn around quickly. Instinctively, he called a summoned dagger to his hand, and didn’t even realize it until he saw that there was no threat. It disappeared just after.

Kylepo had snuck down to the basement and was now sniffing around one of the boxes. He pawed at it and then sat down, starting at Loki. When Loki didn’t move, the cat pawed at it again.

“What, I suppose there’s a mouse in there or something that you want?”

The cat, Loki swore, let out a low meow in response, as if providing a confirmation.

“And I’m talking to a cat. Yes, good, great. This is a great sign, Loki, really,” he muttered and walked up to the box the cat pawed at. The lid was nailed shut, unlike most of the boxes, and it took some work for Loki to tug the top off.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find, but a stack of clothing and pictures was not it. Kylepo stood on his hind legs and peered into the box. He poked his head in and pulled out one of the articles of clothing—a woman’s blouse, by the looks of it. He dropped it on the floor again and paced around before lying on top of it. Then he began to whine.

“Perhaps your former owner’s?” Loki said to the cat, but he was ignored. With a shake of his head, Loki reached into the  box and pulled out one of the photos. It was Cassiopeia.

She was smiling in front of her house and holding Kylepo, who was just a kitten.

Loki frowned and looked between the picture and the cat. “And here I thought you hated her,” he muttered. Kylepo growled and let out a hiss.

“I get the distinct feeling you’re trying to tell me something,” he said and raised a brow. Kylepo stared at him for a moment and then began whining, burying his head in the blouse. Loki shook his head again and went back towards browsing through the items.

It was strange, most of the pictures were pictures of Cassiopeia. Sometimes she was alone, sometimes she wasn’t. Why would someone hide pictures of themselves? He had seen one of her with a group of people handing upstairs, but that was it, now that he thought about it. Gathering up a few of the pictures, some of which were framed, Loki walked them upstairs to get a better look at them.

He set them out on the table and rolled up the sleeves of his button down shirt as he looked over them. They appeared to be from a few different stages in Cassiopeia life. There was nothing particularly remarkable about them either. Family, friends, some sort of party… He stared at them for nearly half an hour before he finally noticed something about the photos.

Loki quickly hurried into the living room and took the photo off the wall. Cassiopeia was in it, presumably with her family. Her eyes were closed as she smiled brightly. He compared it to the other photos, all of which had her eyes open.

In all of those photos, she had very bright yellow eyes. Her family as well shared the same yellow eyes.

But he was one-hundred-percent certain that the woman he had been living with had _brown_ eyes.

Kylepo walked back out of the basement, the blouse in his mouth. Loki held up a picture to the cat and pointed. “That’s Cassiopeia, right?”

The cat meowed loudly.

“That person, the one who’s living here. That’s _not_ her, is it?”

Kylepo hissed loudly. Loki nodded.

“Perfect. I’ve been deceived. What the fuck is going on here?”

And, he wondered as his eyes landed on his wooden cup, what was her plan for him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes: I mean, this isn’t like some big mystery story, but I don’t like things to be too straight forward either. I do more mystery writing than other genres (if you’ve happened to read Ciao Poveglia, maybe you’re familiar with my style.) Thanks for sticking with me thus far! I promise things are going to pick up. I do like to have a build up, rather than just throwing things and seeing what sticks!


	4. Chapter 4

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

Loki’s paranoia was through the roof by mid-afternoon, which, he decided, was just ridiculous. He was a god! He had survived Thanos! What could one woman, or, well, person, do to him? However, he was more concerned about _why_ she was caring for him. Certainly, it couldn’t be out of the goodness of her heart. If she had taken such lengths to create a false identity, surely, she had something up her sleeve.

He had been staying with her for weeks at this point, and thus far, Cassiopeia had done nothing outwardly harmful towards him. She really _had_ healed his bruising, and he was gaining some magical abilities left… but that could have also have been his natural recovery time.

After discovering the photos, he paced around for a bit, occasionally glancing at Kylepo. How long would it have taken him to realize something was off without the stupid cat? How pathetic of him…

“Alright,” Loki finally said, stopping to stare at the cat. “We’re going to her room. Let’s see what we can dig up.”

The cat perked up and then raced across the house to the stairs, Loki following after him. Up they went and to the right they turned, heading for the master bedroom. He had never bothered to question it, but her door was always shut. Why _should_ he have worried? In any other case, he would say that there was nothing that a simple farm girl could have offered him.

Upon placing his hand on the knob, he found that it was locked. No matter, it was still a basic door, and he was past the point of hiding his snooping. He pushed his shoulder into it roughly, breaking the lock with relative ease.

For the most part, the bedroom was just a bedroom. There didn’t seem to be anything outright suspicious in the room. He stepped in as Kylepo weaved through his legs, nearly tripping him. The cat didn’t hesitate to jump on the bed and begin to shred the blankets and pillows. Loki merely shook his head and began checking drawers for anything of note.

The room wasn’t particularly large, but nothing in the house was. There was a desk, however, against one of the windows. It was covered in leaf cuttings and ground powders. A mortar and pestle sat on the floor next to the desk, too big to sit with everything else on it—including a few books

Loki flipped through a few and found that they were herbalist books, which, he supposed, was hardly surprising.

One of the books, however, seemed to be deliberately in the middle of the pile, as if someone had tried to hide it in plain sight. The corner of one of the pages was folded over. Loki filled it open to the marked page and saw a drawing for a leafy green plant with blue veining.

_Glorel: suppressant, often used to slow the effects of poison or disease. Glorel, in liquid form, acts as an inhibitor, targeting ailments unnatural to a body’s chemical makeup. Extensive testing has shown negative side effect on species with natural healing, regenerative, or other advanced properties. Glorel is safe for use on most species._

Loki growled to himself and set the book down on the desk. He took a deep breath, and then tore the page out of the book. Cassiopeia, or _whoever the fuck she was_ , had some explaining to do. He shoved the torn page into his pocket and then closed the book. He tried to remain calm, knowing that when he did not—

Ah, it was too late. The temperature started to drop around him and Kylepo scurried out of the room. The window in front of him frosted over until it shattered completely. Deciding it wasn’t worth it to hold his anger in, he reached down, tore the desk from against the wall, and tossed it to the side. It broke into large pieces and the contents of it spewed everywhere.

He turned, stomped out of the room, and decided to start packing up anything he wanted to take with him. He would be leaving his planet, one way or another.

000

“I’m home,” Cassiopeia called out, “and in time for dinner too. Why are all of the lights out?”

The woman barely had the chance to walk into and flick on the light before Loki rushed from the side of the room. He grabbed her by her neck, his hands instantly beginning to turn his skin black from his Jotun skin, and held her against the wall. He knocked over a chair as he did so, which Kylepo jumped over to sit on the kitchen table. Apparently, he was a part of this interrogation as well.

“Please, you’re hurting me!” Cassiopeia cried out, grabbing at Loki’s wrists. He only succeeded in turning the skin on the palms of her hands blue and then black with each hit. “Loki!”

He held up the torn page of the herbalist book, waving it in her face. “You may be able to heal quickly, but if I choke the life out of you, you won’t come back from that.”

“You did,” Cassiopeia choked out.

“I’m a _god_ ,” he snapped, his face a mere inch away from hers, “you’re just a deceitful wench.”

Perhaps he underestimated his own strength. Cassiopeia gasped a few times, her brown eyes becoming bloodshot as he cut off her air. His stomach turned slightly, knowing exactly how she felt—the way her pulse pounded in her ears, the pressure building up in her skull, the tightness forming in her chest… But he was so angry—and not just at her, but at the world in general—that all he could do was watch as he strangled her. By the time he realized she was dead, her neck, collar, and cheeks were black.

He dropped her, and she hit the ground with a sickening thud, bouncing a bit. He backed away, dropping the paper, and putting his hands to his head.

“Dear Odin,” he muttered and paced around. He had not meant to do that, he had _meant_ to scare her into submission. He wasn’t used to his Jotun body, and it had been a very long time since he was in a fight with someone who couldn’t take a punch from him. He really was a monster—a monstermonstermonster—

Kylepo growled and then hissed, but not at him. He was staring at Cassiopeia’s fallen body.

Except, it wasn’t Cassiopeia, or at least, not the form he had come to know.

There was a different woman on the ground now. Her frame was smaller than Cassiopeia’s, and her clothes were now a bit baggy. Her hair was just as dark, but her neat braid was messy and coming apart. Most importantly, however, was that the black on her skin was disappearing, leaving behind pale, scar riddled skin. Bewildered, Loki turned on the lights in the living room so that he could shed more light on the corpse.

Once the black had completely disappeared, which hadn’t taken more than a few minutes, there was a sudden gasp, causing Loki to jump backwards. Once again, his dagger materialized in his hand without him so much as thinking about it.

“Son of a—” Cassiopeia, or _whoever_ , slowly sat up, rubbing her neck. She coughed a few times and cleared her throat. “You know, I’ve been nothing but nice to you. How do you repay me? You kill me. Fantastic, thanks.”

Loki stared at the woman, and then looked at Kylepo, who was backing away from her.

“What _are_ you?” He asked as she turned her brown eyes upon him.

“One of a kind,” she replied bitterly and stood up, turning away from him a bit. She straightened her shirt and closed her eyes. Loki watched as her skin rippled, and she returned to the form of Cassiopeia once more. “Now listen, we could go back and forth all night, or, we could talk it out like grownups. How’s that sound? Think you could handle that?”

Loki adjusted his grip on his dagger and licked his lips. Well, he was nothing if not adaptable… But he wasn’t sure if he was happy or _worried_ to know that he hadn’t killed her.

“Okay, great. I’m going to go grab another bottle of the wine. Absolutely killed me to not drink it around you. Damn good stuff, am I right?” She sighed and headed towards the basement door, stopping momentarily to make as if she were going to kick Kylepo. She didn’t, but the cat went running. “I hate that beast. Too smart for its own good.”

Loki contemplated running now that he had an opening, but even then, he wasn’t sure to where. He didn’t know where the closest town was—the Trading Post, as Cassiopeia has referred to it—or where there might be a vehicle to get to it. Finally, he sighed. He had survived Thanos. That’s what he kept repeating to himself. He had survived Thanos.

The woman returned a few minutes later, two bottles in her hand. She set them on the kitchen table, grabbed an opener, and popped them both open. She walked into the living room and shoved one of the bottled into Loki’s chest.

“Don’t break it or I’ll have to get you your child’s cup,” she said, a jab at the wooden cup he had been using, he supposed.

“What happened to the real Cassiopeia?” Loki asked, turning the bottle in his hands and taking a deep swig. He had watched her open it. It probably wasn’t poisoned. The woman followed suit and dropped down onto the couch. She crossed her legs and threw her arm up on the back, reclining a bit.

Whoever this woman was in front of him…. She had done a very good job at impersonating another person. It was clear that her mannerisms, if natural, were drastically different from the timid persona he had met before.

She shrugged. “Dead. Disappeared, just like half the other people in the Universe I suppose. I didn’t kill her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“So you just, what, took over her life?”

The woman smirked, tilting her head to the side, “don’t sound so judgmental, Loki Odin-son. I heard you did something rather similar before Asgard burned. I think we’re birds of a feather.”

“I’m nothing like you.”

“Are you sure? You don’t even know me.”

“There’s no one like me,” he replied, his voice a low growl.

She smiled and shrugged. “There’s no one like me, either. So there’s that.”

Loki set his dagger down on his lap, confident that he was the quicker of the two if it came down to a fight. He wiped his hand down his face and shook his head. “Who are you, really? And what am I doing here, really?”

“I don’t have a name. Call me whatever you want,” she replied and took another drink from her bottle of wine. She sighed contently. “Snagged this case from Sakaar, during the rebellion. Things got boring there once peace and order was introduced. It was far more fun when you were there.”

Loki raised an eyebrow and sat up a bit straighter. “You were on Sakaar? While I was there?” He was about to say that he didn’t recognize her, but of course he wouldn’t. She was a shapeshifter of sorts, clearly.

“I was. We even chatted a few times. We’d have probably gone to bed together, had your brother not shown up. Don’t feel bad, everybody did. I picked a beautiful form for Sakaar. Lived like a queen, for a while. But, like I said, it got boring. I hopped off the planet with some scavengers who had managed to get off the planet—did you know there was a pretty easy way out? It was a portal in the sky, like the others. The Grandmaster needed only to activate it—which he did. He got out of there as soon as everyone turned on him.”

Obviously Loki did _not_ know that, or else that’s how they would have slipped off the planet in the first time. Well, the past was the past…

“Scavengers? So, were you the one to find me in space then?”

“Sure was. I even killed my companions for you.”

Loki looked at her in disbelief. “Oh, really now? And why would you do that?”

The woman shrugged. “They didn’t want to bring you aboard. Planned to leave you there to die. I figured if it came to three nobody-scavengers or the Prince of Asgard, you’d fetch the bigger price. So I brought you do Cass. She really was a friend of mine. I dropped off loot for her periodically and stayed here from time to time. Knew she’d know how to bring you back from the brink of death. She did. Then she disappeared. I became Cassiopeia—thought you’d like her better.”

Loki leaned forward a bit and rubbed his temple. “You know you sound insane right? You expect me to believe that not only have we met before, but you just happened to stumble upon me, then knew exactly where to take me to heal, and had the perfect cover because your friend just happened to get wiped out of existence? Awfully convenient.”

“Fate is funny,” she replied and raised her bottle. “Anyhow, I tried to suppress your magic for as long as possible til I could find a buyer for you. No such luck, as it turns out. No one believed I actually had you. Those what would want you, like the Collector, are apparently dead.”

Loki jumped up, bottle of wine in one hand (it was really too valuable to drop), and dagger in the other. He took a step towards her, dagger aimed out in front of him. “So you admit freely that you were going to sell me? Are you insane?”

The woman shrugged. “Wanna put that dagger through my heart? Go for it, really. I’ll just heal. I always do. But yeah, I admit it. My plan’s gone to shit anyhow, so what’s it matter?”

Muttering to himself, Loki paced around a bit before ultimately sitting back down in his chair. “Well, now what?”

“Now what?”

“Yes. What’s your plan now?”

“Oh, I dunno,” she replied and returned to her wine. “I figure I’ll finish off most of this case of wine since Cass never touched in, go through all of the shit I’ve dropped off here over the years, figure out what I wanna take, and head out. My ship’s probably close to being fully repaired by now.”

Loki frowned deeply in annoyance. “You… have a ship.”

“Of course I have a ship. I took it off the hands of the scavengers. That’s how I got you here, remember?”

“I could have left at any point in this past month, and you hid it from me.”

“Yeah, yeah. I tricked you. Bet you hate that, don’t you? Anyhow, you were the one who was dead set on not leaving until you weren’t blue. I just offered you a bit of encouragement to stay by inhibiting your magic. It’ll be out of your system in a few days, I imagine. Then the rest is up to you.” The woman stared at him, a small smile on her face. Loki hated it. He really did want to sink his dagger into her chest, but he wouldn’t. Not until he had her ship, at the very least.

“I’m going to try to take your ship, you know that right?” Loki asked sitting back again in his chair and making himself comfortable. If this were going to turn into a game of wits, then he felt he had the upper hand.

“Of course. I think it’s more likely I’ll end up going along for the ride though.”

“You think I’d let you?” He asked, amusement in his voice. As if he would…

“I think that if you’re going to try to undo Thanos’s work, you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

Loki’s shoulders tensed and he looked away from her. He took a deep drink of his wine. _Damn it, she’s right._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes: I generally have a sort of vague plan, and then I word vomit until I get there. And hey! This is what I came up with. Like I said. I like to reuse characters. This female character was rather well liked the last time around, but I felt like she was highly underutilized. I try very hard no to make her a mary-sue, and I now have a very specific purpose for her (which currently isn’t romance!) If you think you figure out what’s going on, DO NOT post in a review! Feel free to PM me! Don’t worry. Lots of other canon characters to come. I anticipate this story to be somewhat lengthy.


	5. Chapter 5

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

Traveling with Nebula had been… Interesting, to say the least. Tony had been so worked up by the prospect of meeting Thanos and trying to make sure that Peter lived (what a failure he was), that he hadn’t really absorbed the fact that he was in space. Again.

Nebula didn’t talk much. In fact, most of her comments to him were about him talking too much. She seemed be running through scenarios in her mind, and if he were to guess, she was periodically cataloguing them based on the way she would randomly mention a series of numbers. He wondered how much of her was machine and how much of her was a person.

It was, admittedly, a bit unnerving to look at her. Sure, he had been around the Vision for a while (don’t think about him, don’t think about him, he’s probably dead now too,) but Nebula wasn’t the same. She had been a living, breathing person once, and apparently, she had slowly become a cyborg. A sick part of Tony wanted the chance to tinker around with her, but he figured he needed to wait until at least a drunken heart to heart before asking to poke around her brain.

To pass the time until they got to, well, wherever they were going, Tony did what he could to repair his suit. Nebula was actually fairly well equipped with spare parts in her ship, which he attributed to her proneness to taking physical damage. Of course, they had to move most of those items over to the ship they were actually traveling in—the one that belonged to Star-Lord.

Still, all of his distractions were not enough to make him forget the fact that the likelihood of going back to Earth was slim to none.

By the time they reached the Trading Post, Tony was eager to see some sort of civilization again—he also wouldn’t have minded a shower, but he was aware of the fact that he had no form of currency now that he was off-planet. He supposed if Nebula was the sort to turn to crime, then he was too.

“Prepare for landing,” Nebula said as they neared a planet. It looked beautiful from his view, but Tony was more interested in a nearby, larger planet with rings. Alas, they weren’t stopping there. He sat down and buckled in, intrigued to see how a ship was supposed to properly land.

Nebula’s piloting was smooth and clean, and the touch down had been similar to a quinjet. He knew it was safe to stand when Nebula unbuckled and left her chair.

“We’ll need a few days for minor repairs, I can handle finding someone for that. Wear this. It’s a universal translator. Getting a lab to agree to let us in will be harder than ship repaid,” she said and pressed a button to unlatch the doors.

“I’m out of my territory here, so you point and I’ll shoot, or whatever,” Tony said and examined the little device she had given him. It was barely the side of a pea, but upon fitting it into his ear, it expanded. It was a bit uncomfortable, but he was sure he could get used to it.

Nebula raised a brow and nodded. “Good.”

Tony had removed his Iron Man suit so that it rested in his housing core. He hoped that the nanotech would repair a bit faster if it was in its confines, but he wouldn’t be sure until he tried it on again. Until that point, he was stuck in nothing more than his athleisure-wear. He felt practically naked, but upon walking off the ship, he found that there was really no need to worry.

The aliens looked fairly humanoid. They had tan skin, long, pointed ears, and bright yellow eyes. “So, uh, these peaceful people or….”

Nebula’s mouth twitched in annoyance. “Yes. Mostly. They’re primarily famers. Their tech is all here at the Trading Post.”

“Uh-huh… And how fast would they have reinforcements if we started blasting our way into a lab?” Tony asked, stepping off the ship. A few of the locals glanced at him, appraised him, and turned away. Apparently he was nothing noteworthy.

For being _aliens_ , they all looked so… normal. He could identify the ship mechanics immediately—they wore grease covered clothing and carried boxes of tools. Some where laying on their backs under ships, welding torches in hand. In the distance, Tony spotted even more ships, but they seemed to be peacefully docked without anyone working on them.

“Identification?” Someone said from their left. Tony and Nebula turned to see an older male alien approaching them. He had a screen in his hand and was clicking about it.

“Newly acquired ship,” Nebula replied and reached into her breast pocket. The man looked up at her, a brow raised. She withdrew a small piece of something—Tony couldn’t tell what it was, but it did appear broken—and tossed it to the man. He looked it over, typed something else into his pad, and pocketed it.

“Got it. General repairs?”

Nebula nodded and started to walk away.

“So, to be clear, you just bribed the guy?” Tony asked, double stepping to catch up with the woman. She didn’t say anything, but her lips twitched. Based on what he had determined from their time traveling together, that meant he was right, but she was annoyed with him. “Hey, I see nothing wrong with that. Just trying to pick up on the nuances in space. So how long do repairs typically take here? We talking a day? A week? I imagine we don’t want to force our way in anywhere unless we have a plan to escape shortly after.”

“At least a few days. It’s a big ship and a moon crashed into it. We’re lucky we got here.”

Tony nodded slowly. Right. Lucky to get to the planet. Lucky to walk away from Thanos. Lucky to not have faded away into oblivion like his friends. Lucky.

“So what do we do now?” Tony asked as they turned by one of the buildings. Almost immediately it opened up into a main street. The further and further they went, the more it looked like a civilization he could identify with—shops and cafes, side markets and street performers. There were presumably parents holding the hands of children, and posters of people plastered to building sides—make shift memorials for the dead, it seemed. It was, all in all, what he would expect to see back on Earth.

“Now we make some money.”

000

“If I had my magic, I could hide this in a pocket dimension,” Loki muttered as he loaded up the clunky farm vehicle with the last of the valuables Cass had swiped from the house. “It would be so much easier…”

Just as promised, any sort of inhibitor was out of his system in just a few days. His Jotun coloring started to disappear, giving way to his pale Aesir skin. It was a slow process and there were patches on his body that had not yet changed—but it was unlikely that anyone would be seeing _those_ parts anytime soon so…

He didn’t trust Cass, which he had conceded to call the woman since she failed to provide him with another name, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter. His magic was extremely limited and he needed to get to a ship. He also knew he would need funds to use on his journey, at least until he could sweet talk his way into the circle of some benefactor.

Which is why he was currently doing the heavy lifting, moving anything that could be sold off at the Trading Post.

“No,” he heard Cass say, but not to him, “damnit no! You’re staying here! You’re a beast, you’ll survive.”

Kylepo was trying to follow after Cass as she approached the vehicle, and she kept kicking at him, trying to get him to run off. The cat was too smart for that however. He move from side to side, staying just out of her range.

“He’s clearly a house cat,” Loki said with an annoyed sigh, “you can’t just leave him here. You’ll have to rehome him, or take him with us.”

The look that the woman gave him over her sun glasses, which Loki assumed she wore to hide the fact that her brown eyes didn’t match the yellow ones she was supposed to have, was one of murder. “I am _not_ taking this _thing_. He’ll try to murder me in my sleep.”

“Well, good thing you’ve made it quite clear that you can’t _die_. Let him hop in and let’s get going. I can’t stand to look at this blasted farm any longer.”

For a little while, having the chance to recover was nice. However now, with each day that passed, it was like there was an annoying itch that he couldn’t scratch. He knew that he should be doing something, and even if he didn’t know what that something was, it would be better to be out looking for it than sitting around twiddling his thumbs.

Cass muttered something in a language Loki wasn’t familiar with and hopped up in the driver’s seat. The vehicle had a large trunk bed that was closed in and stored all of their valuables, while the front section was open air with the exception of a near invisible windshield. Loki stepped to the side, holding onto his door so that Cass didn’t get the idea to try to pull away without him, and let Kylepo jump inside the vehicle.

Soon, they were off.

Their trip was done in relative silence, except for occasional music cackling in through the stereo. For the most part they seemed to be out of range of anything good. After just a little bit of traveling, Loki started to feel better internally. He had a few short term goals, and it felt good to be on his way to accomplishing them.

It took almost all day before they reached the Trading Post. Loki recognized the area as a hub of activity. There were a few ships descending and docking for the night, and even a few local aerial vehicles parking. It was civilization and he immediately felt at home.

“Gonna get a room for the night,” Cass said as they parked. “In the morning, I’m gonna drain Cass’s savings accounts and convert it into galactic currency. You talk to the pop up market manager, get a booth, and unload our stuff—not the wine.”

“Not the wine,” Loki murmured in agreement. He was sure he could strike a few deals in his favor beyond that.

They exited the vehicle, Kylepo on Loki’s heels. There was music and laughter coming from all around them as people sat down for a late dinner or drinks. Loki recognized the universal sign for shelter and pointed it out to Cass, who nodded in agreement. Down the street they went and into the multistory building.

A little bell sounded as they walked in, Cass trailing behind Loki. He didn’t give her the opportunity to speak for him as he quickly walked up to the front desk. A woman, the same species as Cassiopeia, smiled at him.

“Good evening,” she said, “can I help you?”

“Yes,” Loki replied, returning the smile as he leaned slightly on the counter top. “We don’t have prior reservations but we were hoping to get some rooms for the night.”

The woman’s eyes flicked over to Cass, who was still wearing her sunglasses, and then back to Loki. “Two rooms?”

“Yes, two rooms, if that isn’t too much trouble,” he said. Kylepo meowed loudly at his feet. “And, ah, one of which is animal friendly?”

“There is an extra charge for housing a lower species—you know, for cleanup incidentals. We have plenty of rooms, however. Not much tourist traffic these days.”

Loki nodded solemnly, “yes, I imagine that’s true. I expect we may be here for a few days, is that a problem?”

“No, no problem,” the woman replied. She turned to a holographic screen in front of her and swiped about it, pulling up different screens. She raised her fingers to the sides of the screen and moved it over towards Loki. “If you could just fill this out and provide your payment information, I can get you checked in.”

Loki smiled again and gave Cass a side glance. She stepped over to him, handed off a small card, half of which looked like a data chip, and then returned to staring at a poster on the wall. “Not a problem. I’ll have this filled out in just a moment.”

 

 

“Planning to leave without me?” Loki asked as he caught up with Cass just outside of their lodgings. Kylepo remained in the room with the promise of dinner. “How can you see in those things?”

“Practice,” Cass replied, shoving her hands into her pockets. “No, I was not leaving without you. I just wanted to go get a drink without babysitting.”

Loki’s half smile disappeared as his eyes narrowed. “If you think you’re _babysitting_ now, just wait until I have my full abilities back. I think I’ll drive you quite _insane_.”

Cass didn’t respond. They fell into a chilly silence as they approached what appeared to be a bar. The woman entered first with Loki behind her, which was probably for the best because Loki likely would have tried to slam the door in her face.

“Listen, while we’re here, just keep your head down. We can lie low and be gone—”

Loki was in the middle of rolling his eyes at Cass’s words when he was caught off guard by a force to his chest that sent him flying backwards into the wall. A picture fell, cracking him on his head. While he looked around for the source of the power, he couldn’t help but think that the sound it had made just before it hit him sounded like—

“You’ve got to be _fucking kidding me_ ,” said a familiar voice, “half the universe is gone and _you’re still here._ ”

Patrons cleared the way, scrambling to get out of the path of a fight as a human form approached Loki. He wasn’t sure if it was the hit to the head he had just taken or if the underworld had frozen over, but Loki was actually kind of _glad_ to see Tony Stark standing over him. Of course, it was clear that Tony did not feel the same.

… That much was evident by the barrage of repulsor blasts he felt hit his still-recovering body.

000

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s notes: And now two of the Avenger characters are together, wooh!!! Nebula and Cass aren’t going away. Also, I know that if you think about it, the time line is a bit wonky, but, in my opinion, the time on Titan is all sorts of mess up as a result of the Time Stone being acquired on that planet. Besides, I imagine space travel takes longer than they lead us to believe in the MCU.
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> Ever Your Servant,   
> A.F


	6. Chapter 6

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

No matter how hard he tried, Loki was unable to escape the repeated repulsor blasts aimed at his chest. Despite the hits being relatively low energy, leading him to believe that Stark was running on empty, he was rather sure he felt a sickening crack in his chest. Just what he needed: another place to divert his limited magic.

Loki grit his teeth and struggled to dive out of the way. It wasn’t until a blue woman grabbed Stark’s arm that he had the opportunity. He found cover behind a now vacated table and peaked below it, looking for Cass.

The bitch was getting a drink at the bar and ignoring him entirely!

“Are you just _really_ going to let me get attacked?!” He shouted over the chaos. She glanced over her shoulder and raised her glass. Loki snarled and forced himself to stand, pulling whatever energy he could into a dagger. He held it out, but knew that once he let go, that it. He probably couldn’t summon up another one.

“So many people—so many good people—and you—you—” Stark couldn’t seem to find the words. He held his arm out, but the blue woman was telling him to back off.

“—arm down or I’ll—”

“Don’t you think I know that—” Loki snapped, rubbing his chest with his free hand.

“—I’ll put you where you belong—”

The woman had apparently had enough. In a quick moment, she twisted Stark’s arm away, flipped him around, and then swept his legs out from under him. She pinned him down, subduing him just as bar patrons started to circle with their weapons.

“I’ve got him,” the woman shouted, though no one put down their weapons. Loki wasn’t at all surprised to find so many firearms on a planet filled with farmers. “Too much to drink.”

“We’re gonna have to get the Enforcers down here,” the bartender warned, putting his own weapon down, “he damaged the wall!”

Loki rolled his eyes. Of course the bartender would be more concerned about a broken wall than an injured patron. He took a step towards Stark, who was sending a slew of insults his way, but the blue woman was quick to draw a weapon and turn on it him. He thought it over a moment and then set his dagger on the table next to him, raising his hands in surrender.

“I just want to talk,” he said.

“Yeah? I don’t think he does.”

“Please—I imagine we have some common interests—”

“—I have _nothing_ in common with you—”

“Thanos?” Loki asked, raising a brow. At the name, Stark immediately stopped his struggling.

“Yeah, Thanos, you know, _your boss_ ,” Stark spat out. The woman glared at Loki after Stark spoke, putting a bit more pressure on the trigger.

Loki clenched his jaw and flicked his eyes over the woman to Cass, who was sipping a cocktail. She gave him a little wave before resting her chin in her hand, watching the scene unfold. He swore that if there was a way to make her stay dead, he was going to find it.

“No, Thanos, the villain who _slaughtered Asgardians and tried to kill Thor in front of me._ I don’t work for him—I—” he nervously touched his neck before quickly dropping his arm. “Look, Stark, I want to rule things, not _kill half the universe.”_

“Just half the city of New York, where _I lived with_ —”

Loki groaned and put his head back. He looked over at the bartender. “How much to keep anyone from coming down here. It’s a bar fight. We’ll pay for the damages?”

“We will?” Cass asked form her spot at the bar. Loki glared at her.

“ _Yes_ , we will. We don’t want any more of a scene than we’ve already caused, do we?”

Cass scowled and shook her head. She reached into her back pocked and pulled out her currency card. She slid it across the bartender, who took it from her. In return, the bartender gave a nod to the patrons still standing by with weapons drawn. They seemed wary, but eventually backed down and returned to their seats.

“Stark, I know we have a rather bad history—”

“—the understatement of the—”

“But please. I tried to stop Thanos, I did. Thor did too—and clearly he failed. I don’t know if anything can be done, but I have to _try_. If you’re stuck here in space without any of your other Avenger friends, then I imagine that you’re going to need as much help as you can get,” Loki said, hoping his pleading would work. He may not have wanted to grovel to the human, but he was a good actor. He could play the kicked puppy if he needed to (and to be fair, he was really feeling like one at the moment.)

The blue woman looked down at Stark. “He’s right. Two of us can’t do anything against him. We couldn’t do anything the last time. If he really did try to stop Thanos and lived—we could use that.”

“He could be lying—he probably _is_ lying. That’s what he does!”

Well, Loki obviously couldn’t refute that.

“I just want to talk,” Loki repeated, “preferably over a strong drink or five.”

 

An hour later, the four of them were sitting around a table in the back corner of the bar, racking up a tab on the old Cassiopeia’s currency card.

“You think that there are still Avengers on Earth?” Loki asked over this third drink and a plate of crispy, leafy snacks. Apparently, the planet ate a lot of vegetables, even at the bar. “All things considered?”

Stark was furiously shoving the crisps in his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in days. Loki wondered how his fragile human body had even managed to survive so long—he wasn’t even wearing his suit. He supposed it had to do with the woman, Nebula, and her familiarity with humans—apparently she even knew another one who had been traveling with her sister.

“Statistically speaking, yeah. Unless…. Well, unless he wiped the planet out while trying to take the last gem. I guess if that’s the case….” He slowed long enough to shake his head and chug his drink. He winced at the taste, not being familiar with alien alcohol, and set his glass back down. He nodded over to Cass, who was looking at him over the rim of her sunglasses. “Anyhow, what’s your deal, Cory Hart—what’s your beef in the game?”

She shrugged. “I’m just along for the ride.”

Stark laughed in fake belief, “oh, yeah, ‘cause who doesn’t want to go fight a guy who commands death.”

“He doesn’t command Death.”

“Yeah, says someone who hasn’t faced him,” Stark said and raised his glass.

Cass shrugged. “Well, I guess I’m just the bank then. Any of you have money?”

Loki and Stark both looked away. Nebula’s mouth twitched.

“Well, anyhow, what’s our next step here? We’re putting together a crack team—what are we, the, uh, Revengers?—and….. Great. Now what?” Stark asked as he finished his drink and waved down the server for another. They had kept Cass’s card so she really was paying for everything.

“I suppose I thought I would find Thor. But, to be frank, that was more because I wanted to know if he was alive than any real plan. I am… open to suggestions,” Loki replied. He rubbed his chest again, feeling the ache from Stark’s repulsor blasts. He was in no condition to go into battle at the moment and—

“I say we find Thanos and take the stones back.”

Loki practically spit out his drink. “You _what_?”

Stark went off on a train about getting the stones back, using their power to reverse Thanos’s work then possibly destroying the stones. He laid out his rationalization in his usual snarky way, but Loki only bothered to half listen. He clenched his jaw and stared down at his glass.

Mortals. They always made things sound so _easy_.

Loki understood that Stark had fought Thanos with a gang of plucky outlaws and that he witnessed all of them disappear before his eyes. Loki, on the other hand, watched Thanos slaughter Asgardians in the most brutal of ways—Asgardians who, as a whole, were stronger than the five people with Stark.

“Stark, you do realize that the stones are only wieldable when they’re contained, correct? Thanos destroyed their shells and now, without knowing how they were contain in the first place, we can’t hope to just… take one,” Loki said, earning him a glare in return.

“Well, Reindeer Games, _you_ do realize you’re looking at a super genius, right? We just need to build new containers. We have pretty thorough research on both the Tesseract and the Stick of Destiny on Earth—and Strange—” Stark paused long enough to squeeze his eyes shut, “—well, maybe there’s someone on Earth who knows the details of the Time Stone. If now, then I guess we’re gonna have to steal the whole damn gauntlet. We aren’t exactly on a time crunch now, so we have time to think up a plan and gather the heroes or whatever.”

Loki fell silent and chewed the inside of his lip. Finally, he shrugged. “I suppose that if… If Thor _is_ alive, we may be able to count on him to be able to wield the gauntlet as a last effort. I imagine it’s incredibly powerful and won’t obey just anyone’s whim.”

Stark snorted. “So at least you’re willing to admit that _you’re_ not worthy.”

“I’m just not suicidal,” Loki replied and down the last of his drink, slamming the glass on the table roughly.

“So this place,” Cass finally interjected, reclining in her chair. She had been silent for the majority of the conversation, her gaze switching between the two men, possibly preparing to stop a fight if it were to break out again. “Earth? Where exactly is it?”

000

“I do sincerely apologize madam, but I cannot accept less than fifty dens.”

“Fifty--! Are you insane? I was on Conwa just the other week and they were selling these for _twenty_!”

Loki raised a brow and gave the woman—woman was a loose term, he only got lucky in his guess with the large, lizard like creature—a condescending look. With some of his customers, he remained polite. With this one, it seemed that the snootier he came off, the better. The creature clearly enjoyed pretending they were high class and the more pretentious he was, the more he drew her into him.

“I _assure_ you, they were not. Perhaps some… knock off? There are only one-hundred of these chalices in the galaxy, and I heard that a crate of them suffered destruction on their way to Katz, where they were destined for the planet’s Supreme Leader’s home. There can’t be more than seventy left now! Look, you can see the maker’s mark right here.” He turned over the silver cup to show a small squiggle on the bottom.

The woman ooh’d and aww’d, and finally, she walked away with a set and Loki was one hundred dens richer.

The cup was a cup. The marking was something he etched in with his dagger. But hey, whatever convinced people to pay him—he’d take it. His duty, after wall, was to use his wonderful silver tongue to try to move as much of Cass’s gathered loot as possible. After nearly an entire day of selling, he had done rather well, selling off almost half of the inventory.

As lowly as it was, he actually somewhat enjoyed the simple merchant life. Kylepo sat napping in the shade of their booth, though he sometimes went off to explore, occasionally bringing back a child trailing behind and a frantic parent chasing them. Loki swore the cat knew to go off and do it when no one had stopped at their booth for a while.

Loki had quickly found that trying to sell to the locals was useless. They were accustomed to travelers coming in and out, trying to sell overpriced knickknacks. The handful of people who were passing through for refueling or trading, however, were much easier to swindle. He admittedly enjoyed the attention he brought on himself, and he had a smug smile about the three pieces of paper in his pocket—papers with lovely young ladies’ names and room numbers.

He practically felt like his old self—well, his old self off of Asgard and, perhaps, on Sakaar. Still. He was content.

“I think I should see about restocking,” Loki mused as he waved down one of the walking vendors selling some sort of sweet meat on a stick. He bought two, sent the man away, and gave one of Kylepo. “I imagine we will get a rush right before dinner as people leave their rooms to walk about. Watch the table, won’t you?”

The feline gave a pleased meow as he started to pull the meat off the stick. Loki gave a half smile and accepted that as his confirmation. He left their booth from the back and slipped between the small area between their stall and the next stall to walk down the main drag. He placed his hands behind his back idly as he strolled down the way, which was becoming slowly more crowded with people. He had seen much of what everyone had to offer already, but it was relaxing to just observe everyone and everything in their peaceful surroundings.

Loki turned and headed to where Cass had parked their vehicle. He hadn’t seen the woman all day, but she was, presumably, closing out Cassiopeia’s bank account and then going with Stark and Nebula to the laboratory. They had decided that they would simply walk in—behind Cass, who had taken on the form of one of the workers. To do so, however, she needed time to scout out a person and learn their mannerisms. She could only copy someone she had seen before, as it turned out.

He was quite content to have a day away from her. He had not yet come to terms with her essentially kidnapping him (yes, she did pull him from the vast expanse of space…) and keeping him hostage in a farm house for a month.

As he pulled the last create from the back of the truck, one in which he hadn’t opened as it was already loaded on when she pulled the vehicle up to the house, he realized that his path to forgiveness was _a very long one_.

Loki set the top of the crate on the truck bed and stared down at the contents of the long box. He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard before kneeling down to go through the items.

Asgardian weapons.

Asgardian armor.

Asgardian clothing.

Asgardian toys.

Had Cass pulled these off of the bodies of his people? Even if they weren’t _really_ his people, they were in the end. They fought together. They (mostly) died together. There weren’t any Asgardians left, except for the few that had been stationed on other realms during the Fall. The things, these innocuous items, were all that were left of those people.

And she had scavenged them off their corpses. Those poor souls, who didn’t receive the funeral rites they were owed, couldn’t even have their dignity preserved in death.

It was clear to Loki that he had not yet dealt with his grief as he stared down at the items in the crate. He had not yet accepted the part that he may have ultimately played in Asgard’s demise. He was not yet ready to move on and let go of the people he may or may not have been able to save.

He felt a swell of magic surge up inside of him, and when he closed the crate once more—his hands trembling in anger and agony--it was empty.

000

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes: I’m sure it’s the fact that I’m tired, but I actually got a bit emotional writing the end of this! I don’t know if came across though, ugh. I want this story to be a Loki-development story and not just “Loki and Tony: Space D&D!” Also, I do want to make it clear that the reader probably shouldn’t really like Cass—they should be annoyed, aggravated, and possibly angry with her. Loki is, after all. She isn’t supposed to be likable. 
> 
> Thank you everyone for your reviews! I am getting a bit slower on the updates due to some other projects due, but I will still aim to update at least once a week!  
> Ever Your Servant,   
> A.F


	7. Chapter 7

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

  


Loki sat on a chair near the widow is Cass’s room, his long fingers intertwined with one another as he waited for the woman to return. He had contemplated jumping her in the dark again and threatening her, but he assumed he wouldn’t be able to get away with that trick twice. He was sure his thought was correct as she opened the door and walked in—he could see that she had a small knife in hand, though she was trying to subtly hide it from view.

 

“From what I understand,” she said airily with a wave of her free hand, “most people would surprise a woman in her room with a fine drink—not weapons. I suppose I should appreciate the gesture regardless?”

 

Loki’s lips pressed together in a thin line as his hands tightened, fighting the urge to lash out at the woman. He had indeed littered her bed with weapons—the Asgardian weapons he had found in her vehicle.

 

“You thought to sell off the last of Asgardian culture? Did you think I would not notice that you had them stashed away? Tell me, did you strip them from the corpses yourself, or did you have your _companions_ do it for you, before you killed them?”

 

Cass rolled her eyes, her own expression turning to one of annoyance. “Please, Loki, don’t act so offended. I’ve picked many battlefields clean, taking those that I’ve wanted, for a very long time. Your Asgardians were no different.”

 

Before Loki could give it another thought, he was suddenly across the room, his body teleporting himself in front of her instantly. However in that brief moment, she raised her small, needle night knife to his neck—and he a summoned dagger to her abdomen. “I may be forced to work with you for now, but I swear to you, I will find a way to kill you—and when I do, you’ll stay in Death quite permanently.”

 

Cass’s mouth twitched slightly. “You swear? You’ve made quite a few vows you haven’t been able to keep, haven’t you Loki? Your threat seems rather empty.”

 

“I’ll make good on this one.”

 

“I rather hope that you do.” Cass lowered her weapon and took a step back.

 

Loki stared at her for a moment, contemplating burying his blade into her stomach anyhow, just to relieve his anger. Ultimately he decided against it. It would not do to turn to bloodshed. If he did, there may be the chance in the future that he could not control himself—and control, in his opinion, is what he really needed the most right now. He stepped back as well, but continued staring down at Cass, his eyes flashing with the emotions he felt.

 

“Now, if you will, gather up your toys and leave my room. I’ve had a terribly exhausting day dealing with Stark. I just want to go to bed.”

 

With a wave of his hands, the weapons that Loki had spread about disappeared, returning to the pocket dimension he often kept his valuables in. He would not admit it, but he was quite tired as well. Using so much magic in such a short amount of time had exhausted him. He needed to sleep as well. Cass side stepped to let him through the door.

 

Loki kept his head held high while he exited and walked down the hallway, but once he was in his room, his shoulders dropped and he swayed. He barely managed to sit down on his bed before the room started spinning. He put his head in his hand and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to regain his bearings. Kylepo meowed from across the room and then jumped on the bed, rubbing against Loki.

 

“I just need a moment,” he sighed, and the cat acquiesced, sitting down and pressing himself against Loki’s back.

 

The room felt incredibly warm, signaling that his Jotun powers starting to show through once more. Loki exhaled deeply and sat straight, setting about to stripping out of his clothes for the night. He just needed a good night of sleep, and he would be back to normal in the morning.

 

000

 

“There’s a new pod in my ship.”

 

“Your ship? I thought you stole it.”

 

“I _salvaged_ it,” Nebula replied dryly, staring at Cass from the corner of her eye. “You don’t get to go making changes to it.”

 

Cass sighed loudly and crossed her arms. “And here I thought you’d be _happy_ that I pawned my ship to resupply yours. I was just trying to be nice and here I am being made the villain again…”

 

“That’s because anyone who voluntarily saves Reindeer Games from dying in space is _definitely_ evil,” Stark said as he walked up to the two squabbling women. “Or his brother, and you don’t seem to be a god so…”

 

“No, I suppose I don’t,” Cass replied.

 

“You’re all rather irritating, you know that?” Loki said and tested the access panel. The door to the ship opened without a problem and Kylepo jumped inside. Loki was not particularly impressed with the Milano, and it seemed like it would be quite cramped with four of them and a cat, but it was better than nothing. If it got him to Thor, then he would suffer the lowly quarters.

 

Cass had sold her ship to a scrapper to get an escape pod put into their ship, figuring it would be better to have one and travel together than to travel separately. Loki quietly agreed, knowing that if they had a pod on their ship when Thanos attacked, they may have had a chance to get at least some people off before the massacre.

 

“Feeling’s mutual,” Stark replied, clapping and rubbing his hands together. “So, we ready to do this?”

 

“Yes. Loki will wait here with the ship and have it ready for takeoff. We’ll go to the lab, get in, do what we need to do, and head straight back here. We should be able to get off planet before anyone can catch us if things go bad,” Nebula replied.

 

Loki turned sharply, his brows deeply furrowed. “Parton, I’ll do _what_?”

 

Nebula shrugged, “someone needs to watch the ship and make sure we can immediately launch. More than likely, this isn’t going to end well.”

 

“And why does it have to be me?”

 

Stark rolled his eyes dramatically, making Loki want to punch him in his face. “Because, Shakespeare, Cass needs to do her shapeshifting thing, I need to repair my nanobots, and Blue here wants to take my tech. You’re the unnecessary one. Stay here and watch the ship with the cat thing. Can’t be too hard can it?”

000

 

“What do you think?” Loki asked, leaning back in the captain’s chair. He had his legs kicked up and very _delicately_ resting on the control panel in front of him with his fingers laced together behind his head. “Should we just leave without them?”

 

Kylepo was curled up in a cubby hole a level below him. For whatever reason, there seemed to be a large number of leaves just lying about. Kylepo was content enough to gather them up and make a bed of them. At least _he_ was making the best of a bad situation. He cracked his eye open and gave Loki a bored _meow_. Loki sighed and closed his eyes.

 

“I know. No funds, no course, no plan. It would be foolish to try to take on Thanos alone. That didn’t work out very well for me the last time, after all.”

 

Loki had been idly sitting in the ship waiting for his _comrades_ to return. He wondered how things were going in the lab, but it had been radio silent. He assumed that if they were on the verge of being captured, they would have alerted him—then he could comfortably leave knowing that it was really in the best interest of the universe to go on without them. Until then, however, he was bored.

 

A bored Loki was typically not a good thing. He had already managed to comb through most of the ship where he found a set of devices he recognized from earth—music players. He had fooled around with it for a bit before he figured out how to turn it on and was promptly blasted with very loud, very bad music, in his opinion. Earth had some rather good music, he had to admit--but they were generally wordless with lovely instrumentals.

 

He broke the device trying to turn it off. Woops. He stuffed it in a drawer and hoped Nebula wouldn’t notice. He figured it was from the ship’s previous owners anyhow.

 

The living quarters were terribly small which made him a bit anxious over the coming trip. He liked his space—he didn’t like people touching him. There were only two bunks to sleep in, which meant that they would be sleeping in shifts, which, really, was reasonable. If he was fortunate, he could pair up with Nebula’s shift, that way wasn’t stuck with someone he either wanted to tear out their throat, or someone who wanted to tear out _his_ throat. He certainly didn’t trust Stark not to try to murder him in his sleep.

 

Just as Loki was considering playing with the wiring to change the voice of the autopilot program, there was sound coming through the ship’s speakers.

 

_“Get ready for immediate take off,”_ came Nebula’s voice.

 

Loki pressed the communications button to respond. “We haven’t put in a request for take off. Shall I do that?”

 

_“No time. We were caught. Going to have to do an unauthorized lift-off.”_

 

He couldn’t help but crack a small smile. Things had, apparently, gone more or less how he had expected them. Loki hurried to buckle himself into the captain’s chair and pulled up the local navigation screen. Though it had taken him a few hours to figure out the controls, he was pleased to find that the ship was very similar in design to others he had piloted.

 

Though the engines were running, Loki made it a point to keep them a minimum output so that he wouldn’t draw too much attention to himself. It took nearly fifteen minutes before his crew came running on board, hurrying to close the door behind them.

 

Stark ran on first, looking more or less the same as ever—but his suit was now repairing itself, which was good because he had a cut on his forehead which looked like he had been thrown against something. Cass was on next, wearing a bloody and partially burned lab coat. She was missing a very large chunk of flesh from her left forearm—he could see her bone. Cass muttered something under her breath, and he noticed once again that he couldn’t understand her, much to his confusion. He couldn’t think of a known language that he didn’t _know…_ but then he supposed if he knew an unknown language then it wouldn’t be unknown and then…

Loki sighed and shook the thought from his head.

 

Nebula’s shoulder was damaged, but Loki could see that it was working to repair itself, very similarly to Stark’s suit. Loki supposed that it meant that their endeavors had been successful, at least until a point. The group hurried to strap into seats as the ship was hit with a few blasts, probably from handheld weapons.

 

“ _You not have clearance for takeoff,_ ” said a voice over their intercom. _“I repeat, you do not have clearance for takeoff.”_

 

“We’ll just turn this off, yes?” Loki said and flipped the communication line to closed.

 

“Get us out of here, Horns, we’re gonna be bombarded any minute now,” said Stark lowly, adjusting himself in his seat.

 

Loki rolled his eyes but grabbed hold of the thrusters. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, this certainly won’t be smooth.” He switched into flight mode and pulled back, quickly sending the ship lurching forward with increased engine output. He wouldn’t be surprised if he took out a few of their would-be attackers in doing so. Woops again.

 

It took him a few seconds to become accustomed to the controls, but they were in the air within moments and then heading upwards to leave the atmosphere. Just as they were exiting, a ship left in pursuit.

 

“Let’s see what sort of power this ship has,” Loki said with a smirk and kicked up the output one more notched. The ship went rocketing forward, practically leaving the other ship behind in the dust. “It might be a bit cramped, but I think I’ll quite like this ship.”

 

Nebula groaned. “That’s great, now prep for a jump and let’s get out of this dingy quadrant.”

 

“With pleasure,” Loki replied his smirk widening.

 

It had taken him some time, but he finally managed to get off the planet. He smiled in satisfaction as he was surrounded by the stars once more. He had feared that they may have been an unwelcomed sight, after his last experience. Yet he found relieved--comforted even.

 

He had a ship, he had a crew, and he had funds. Now, he just needed a solid plan. Things were starting to come along nicely—for once.

 

000


	8. Chapter 8

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

 

“You’ve been awfully quiet there, Reindeer Games,” Tony said from behind Loki. Loki didn’t even grace him with a glance.

The two had hardly spoken beyond whatever was required of them. Nebula had become the defacto captain, which, Loki supposed, was fair since it was her commandeered ship. Loki, of course, would have very much liked to be declared their fearless leader—but he knew that it wasn’t possible. He was far from fearless. And as history had repeatedly shown him, he was not a leader.

That was, ultimately, why he had chosen to wait in the ship as directed and wait for his fellow crew mates in the first place. He couldn’t fix the universe on his own. Tony and Nebula had gone head to head with Thanos and fared better than himself. Cass… well, Cass couldn’t die, apparently, and surely that would be useful.

He needed them. As Thor had once said, life was about change, and he always stayed the same. He needed to be more, to be better.

“And what, pray tell, do you want me to say?” Loki replied and clasped his hands behind his back.

Tony shrugged, which Loki should see in the reflection of the window, “I dunno. You like to hear yourself talk.”

“What’s the saying? Pot calling the Kettle something?”

“That’s fair. We’ve been traveling for a while though, and hardly a peep. Seems too long for someone like you, so I figure you must be scheming.”  Tony dropped down into one of the cushioned chairs and kicked his leg up before idly tapping the clear screen in front of him. They had a few days to go before they would hit their first destination—a crime ridden satellite where they could buy the drive to jump towards Earth.

Loki gave a soft chuckle. “You don’t know a thing about me, Stark. A week without speaking is nothing. A month without speaking is nothing. I fell from the bi-frost twice—the second time I was fortunate enough to land on a planet that suited me quite well. The first… I was not.”

“Forgive me if I’m not sympathetic. Your discomfort is, honestly, my preference,” Tony said with a snort.

Loki exhaled and closed his eyes. He didn’t satisfy Tony with a response. They remained in silence for a few minutes before Tony spoke again.

“So, what about the first time?”

“There’s no point in having this conversation, Stark, you don’t want to hear what I have to say, and I don’t want to talk about it.” Loki’s hands were clasped behind his back and his fingers twitched. He would have liked to flee, but there was nowhere to go. They were too tightly cramped on their small ship.

Tony let out a frustrated sound and roughly pushed the screen to the side. He jumped up and put his hands on his head, pulling a bit at his hair. “You’re right, I don’t _care_ what you have to say, but damnit, I have to _hear_ it. I am stuck on this fucking ship with you, I have to stare at you every waking moment, and I can’t—I can’t do anything about it! You killed _so_ many innocent people. You brought the mind stone to Earth and whatever destruction Thanos might have caused, it’s _your fault_.”

Loki finally turned around, a brow raised at the human. “Would it make you feel better if you hit me?”

“Yes!” Tony shouted, but then looked away. “Well, maybe.”

With a sigh, Loki let his hands drop to his side. “Here, free shot.”

He wasn’t sure what he expected—maybe that Stark would be a bigger man? Tony didn’t hesitate to lash out, landing a few hits to Loki’s face and stomach. What was mostly irrirating was how fast he had managed to summon up his Iron Man armor, which covered his fists almost instantly. Loki allowed Stark a few hits before he grabbed the man’s collar and threw him to the side.

“You cheated.”

“You’re the God of Mischief!”

Loki groaned and wiped a bit of blood away from his lip and nose. He’d heal.

They fell back into silence.

“Did you ever stop to think that the only reason Thanos would have sent me to Earth to retrieve one gem while intrusting me with another gem was because he controlled me?” Loki said when Tony didn’t leave for another part of the ship.

Tony snorted. “Yeah, pass the blame to someone else.”

Loki balled his hand into a fist and hit the side of the ship, leaving a bit of a dent. “I am to blame… for a lot of things. I am the reason Thanos killed the remaining Asgardians before my desire for power compelled me to steal the Tesseract from Odin’s vault instead of leaving it to burn with the rest of Asgard. I am the reason that Asgard fell in the first place—because my desire for power sent Odin to Earth, and so he was unable to warn us that Thor’s sister was going to rise and destroy our home. I am the reason that the Mind Stone ended up on Earth, because my desire for power and—“ he swallowed down the word _love_ because that was not a side he wished to reveal to _Tony Stark_ “—the crown, caused me to fall from Asgard and straight into Thanos’s clutches… “

He turned away and looked out once more over the expanse of space, which once again made him feel so incredibly small.

“I have no desire to describe to you what happened when Thanos found me. I know all about you, and I know you have some familiarity with being held captive. Unlike humans, Asgardians, and Jotuns, are _very hard to kill_ and Thanos got creative. In the end,  I wasn’t strong enough to resist him.”

Loki rubbed his brow. These were things he wanted to say to Thor but never had the chance. Now, he may never have the opportunity to make amends. He had learned too late what was truly in his heart.

Tony—Tony laughed. Loki clenched his jaw, a rage flaring up inside of him. He told the truth, and Stark had the audacity to _laugh_.

“Yeah, poor you. Poor, poor _you_. You feel bad, so now you should be forgiven right? Well you know what, maybe I could have bought some of that but… Here you are. So many good people are dead. Thanos wiped out half of the universe, and somehow, you’re still here. I think you just pity yourself because even _death_ doesn’t want you.” Tony shook his head, continuing to chuckle. He sat back down in his chair. There was no where else to go.

 Loki chewed his lip and squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t going to get into a fight—he wasn’t going to risk destroying the ship. He’s pretend Stark was his brother, who needed to be treated like a child. The only problem was that Stark was so much smarter and knew just the right buttons to push…

“I’m going to bed.” Loki hissed out and stalked away, using every ounce of strength he could muster to keep his Jotun power from freezing very delicate controls in the ship.

 

“Cass,” Loki whispered, trying not to wake up Nebula, “go entertain Stark. It’s my resting shift.”

“Should have thought about that before expending your magic to clean up after Kylepo instead of doing it by hand, and sleeping for eight extra hours because of it, keeping me up for a twenty four hour shift,” Cass replied lowly, her lips barely moving and her eyes still closed.

“You’ll be fine; move.”

“No.”

“I will take this pillow and suffocate—“

“Shut up, both of you,” Nebula snapped. She didn’t sleep often, but she needed reboot her systems from time to time.

Loki looked at the door to the sleeping quarters and then back at Cass. If he went back into the main cabin, he was stuck with Stark. Stared down at Cass, who was wearing a tank top with plenty of exposed skin. His lips curled into a nasty smirk. He pulled off his tunic and shoved Cass to the far side of the bunk, which was actually fairly large and probably made for another large race. He smashed her against the wall and she groaned.

“Why are you such a child…”

“I’ll freeze you out.”

Loki made a point to make himself comfortable, elbowing her in the back on no less than three occasions since she was on her side, facing the wall. He dropped his Aesir cover and allowed his blue skin to take over.

He did not love his Jotun form, but he could not deny when he allowed it to show, he felt… light. As if, for at least a little while, the burdens he carried disappeared with his disguise.

Though he had expected Cass to get frustrated with the bitter cold against her back, he wasn’t bothered. He could hear her breath steady as she fell back to sleep, completely ignoring the fact that her skin was ever shifting from black to tan where his skin touched hers.

Loki stayed, stretched out, albeit with one of his long legs draped over the side and touching the floor. He was asleep in minutes, feeling more mentally exhausted than he had expected.

000

“I think I’ll feel right at home here,” Loki said thoughtfully as they exited their ship. “Kylepo, watch the ship. Maul anyone who tries  to steal it or something.” The feline meowed and turned from the door to go back towards his little bed.

“You know,” Tony said, “I think I’m back in my element as well. This is practically Vegas.”

The satellite, actually a huge asteroid circling a dead planet, was called FeWeiZ-91, was filled with music, street vendors, and towering buildings. There were neon lights in every which way, and the sounds of celebration.

“Watch your valuables,” Nebula said as she led the way.

To be able to do long distance jumping in capable ships, coordinate drivers needed to be installed. Those driver could be purchased from reputable sources, but those drivers could only be sold between friendly sectors. To get to earth, which was considered remote and undeveloped, required an illegal driver. They would need to find a dealer to sell to them—and, unfortunately, their funds were limited.

“So, we’ll need to gamble, that sounds exciting,” Tony said as they strolled through the streets. “How much money do we have?”

“You don’t know the rate, so what’s the point in giving you the total?” Nebula asked.

“That’s a good point. Alright, so, clothes.”

“Clothes?” Nebula asked, “we need to fuel up, make minor repairs, and buy the driver. And you want clothes?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “We’re going to need, like, a large sum, right? Pretty high? Look at us. We’re a ragtag group up drifters. They aren’t going to let us into any of the places we can make real money, are they?”

“I hate to admit it, but he has a point. People tend to take you seriously when you look the part,” Loki replied.

“Once we’re passed the outer district, there should be a street of shops. Mostly stolen and resold goods. Should be able to find something there,” Cass said.

“You didn’t mention you’ve been here,” Loki  said.

Cass shrugged. “I’ve passed through. “

Nebula sighed. “Alright. Fine. I’m going to find a dealer. You do your _shopping_ and fill our account.”

Loki clapped his hands together and smiled. “You know, I think this will be quite fun. Finally, a break from our cramped quarters.” The further they walked into civilization, the straighter Loki stood. After months of relative solitude on a dingy planet and then too long on a ship, he was back in his element. Perhaps there was a chance he could feel normal again.

000


	9. Chapter 9

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

It took Loki a matter of hours to go from petty gambling to the high roller's floor. He hadn't had need to go shop for new clothing, as spending some time in his Jotun form had drastically replenished his magic to the point where he was starting to feel normal again. He walked through a few of the 'high end' stores, which mostly meant the shops that had the nicest, stolen goods, and decided what was considered expensive. He used his magic change his plain clothing to look something like the Grandmaster's outfits—but of course, in black and green.

"—Ah yes, I have been to the Versante belt, spent some time in the palace… My brother got so inebriated that he ran through the gardens during the queen's birthday tea, totally, stark naked. I might have encouraged it and—"

Ah, yes, he was doing what he did best. He had managed to get himself into a VIP booth and was entertaining a group of people, all of whom had quite a bit of money. Each time they would set down their chips, which were used as currency in the casino, he would swipe one or two. Sitting in his pocket dimension, he had a small stack, which he could exchange for funds.

Tony, well, Tony was also enjoying himself. Perhaps a bit too much… he had bought himself a fancy outfit and he was sitting at once of the tables. He had pointedly stayed in eyeshot of Loki, though Loki had managed to make it to the high roller's area first. Tony had followed no long after, having hit it big on the lower floors.

Though he started off strong, he had started drinking. Loki couldn't necessarily blame the man—he had a  _lot_  weighing him down, and being in a den of sin had possibly brought out the worse. Loki had reluctantly resigned himself to keeping an eye on Stark, just in case.

Cass… Loki had no idea where she had gone. She had paid for Stark's clothes, given him a cache of credits, and disappeared. She could be anywhere—she could be right next to him.

For a brief moment, Loki considered the possibility that he could stay on the satellite for a while. He could get himself in with someone rich and powerful, hop a ride to another system, start a new life… He could forget about Thanos and move forward. Have the life he always wanted… But as he looked around and saw that there were many empty booths, booths that had likely once been packed filled with people, he knew that he could not.

He had to set right what he started.

"What's wrong?" A woman, with teal skin, dressed in silver with fancy jewelry, placed her hand on Loki's cheek and turned his head so she would look at him. "You look so serious."

Loki smiled and took her hand, running his thumb in a gentle circle on her palm. "Nothing is wrong, love, just making sure we have the best seat in the house."

"Now, now, don't hog him!" Another woman, the same species, slid into the open spot next to him. He laughed loudly, causing the two women to laugh along with him. "Waitress! More drinks!" She second woman wrapped an arm around Loki and waved down one of the scantily clad servers, who were pink with antenna. The server approached and held out her tray, and both of Loki's companions dropped chips on it.

"You know," said the second woman, "if you wanted, we could go to the  _next_  floor. I can get us in."

"Oh?" Loki said, "and what's up there?"

The first woman giggled. "You'll have to wait and see."

As much as Loki would have liked to go on an adventure with the two lovely ladies, his eyes landed on Stark. Tony's chip pile was awfully low and he seemed to be shouting at the dealer.

"Ah, well," Loki said, somewhat reluctantly, "as  _endearing_  as that sounds, I rather like it here. Besides, we have drinks coming!"

The drinks never came. Though Loki considered waving another server down, he never got the chance. Eventually, Stark hit his limit and unfortunately, he was somewhere where his name meant nothing.

There was a crash, which caught Loki's attention. Tony's Ironman suit was starting to cover him as a male worked to stand up from the ground. There was broken glass around him. "I may be new around here," Tony shouted, "but I know a cheat when I see one. You think I don't see what you're all doing?"

One of the security guards, a large, rock like creature similar to Korg, took a few steps closer. Tony turned his repulsors on the guard. That only brought two more security guards.

"Ladies, as much as I've enjoyed your company, it seems our time here has come to an end." Loki said, to begging for him to stay, he smiled and pulled them off of him, sternly but gently. They followed after him but stopped when he dove into the mix of security guards and pulled Tony out by the collar. "Sorry, sorry! We're leaving! Yes, yes, I just—hey, I'm just trying to help—no, I didn't do anything for once—"

Loki's attempt at a good deed, rescuing the human from a pile of aliens, turned into a bar fight.

Tony sent one of the guards flying, Loki kicked one in the back of the knee, knocking him to the ground. Fighting erupted as a few people made grabs for chips in the chaos, including Loki, and out the duo went. Loki and Tony ran for the door, throwing tables behind them and grabbing whatever valuables they could.

"Exit's blocked," Tony shouted, "door to the right!"

Loki sent a simulacrum to the exit door while he and Loki turned to the right, heading for a staff door. They ended up in a small kitchen and knocked a chef down. The two of them pushed their way through until they found an employee set of stairs. Loki grabbed an employee who was walking up and threw him to the side so that he and Tony could run down.

Out the back door they went and they didn't stop until they were two blocks away, hiding behind a stall with strange fried eggs.

"For Odin's sake… I didn't even get to cash in my chips!" Loki said, leaning back on the ally wall with a thud. He let his clothes change back to their normal, plain state. "Don't tell me you lost everything."

"I was fine, you know, you didn't need to pull me out of there. I would have handled it myself," Tony said, throwing his arms up and pacing around, "but yeah, it's gone. It was rigged. I calculated the statistical outcome, and they were altering the results. Every third roll, one of the dice would land on the star, which isn't possible, and—"

"Chips, please."

Tony's rant was cut off as one of the servers from the casino walked from the dark and held out her tray.

"Uh, what?" Tony asked. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking at Loki.

"Chips," she said, wiggling her tray in front of Loki. He stared at the pink server for a moment and then realized that her eyes were brown. The other had all had red eyes. She had been the one who took the chips for his drinks, but hadn't returned.

"Oh, I should have seen that sooner," Loki sighed and shook his head. He waved his hand and all of the chips he had swiped throughout the night appeared on her tray. It was a rather hefty stack. Without a word, the server turned on her heel and went back down the ally. "So, hungry?"

And thus, Tony Stark sat down with Loki Odinson on a bench at the stand with fried eggs. A half hour later, Cass sat down next to them and ordered.

"Do you think we got enough?" Loki asked between bites.

Cass shrugged. "Hopefully. If not," she unclasped the top of her slightly baggy coat and showed off a fancy necklace. Loki recognized it as one that one of his companions was wearing. "This should cover the difference."

"I am working with thieves," Tony muttered, eating his second bowl. Apparently he enjoyed it more than the space rations they had been eating on the ship. Who could blame him.

Loki let himself discreetly smile for a moment before focusing on his food again. His night had actually be quite fun, and it was even better knowing that no one was going to chastise him for using his sleight of hand to benefit their party. Now, they just needed to meet up with Nebula.

000

They returned to the ship to find that Nebula was waiting for them. She had found a seller but couldn't get a meeting with him until the next day. They drew straws to see who would get the pleasant task of waiting with the ship over night—Cass drew the short straw. She swore under her breath but agreed to stay, as long as Loki took Kylepo. He agreed and was honestly quite content with the company of the cat—he liked Kylepo better than he liked the woman.

They found an Inn that was hardly suitable, but neither Loki nor Tony felt the desire to argue with Nebula. The hope of having their own rooms with some short lived privacy, even in a 'shady motel' as Tony called it, was better than staying yet another night on the ship. The three of them checked in but then ventured around the corner to a nearly empty bar playing what Loki equated to low jazz music.

"How did you meet Cass," Nebula asked, interrupting their silence. She wasn't interested in conversation, and Stark had his head in his hands. Alien alcohol wasn't sitting well with him.

"She pulled me from the wreckage for the Asgardian ship, apparently."

"Thanos left you alive?"

Loki shifted uncomfortably. He felt a phantom pain in his throat as he gulped down his drink. "Well, no, I don't think intentionally. I was… very nearly dead. She was with scavengers who came to pick the wreckage clean." He decided not to mention that they  _had_  combed through the corpses and taken anything valuable. It would only make him angry.

"Hm." Nebula tapped the side of her glass, knocking a chunk of ice to the bottom.

"You clearly have more thoughts on the matter."

"I don't know what she is," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Loki asked.

"I have a database of species. I can look at someone and determine their species and place of origin. I can't determine what she is."

"What about me?" Loki asked somewhat softly. "Can you look at me and tell what I am, even when I'm hiding?"

Nebula turned her head to eye him up and down. He could see her pupils dilate for a moment and she shrugged. "It isn't totally accurate. I cannot tell you're a Jotun like this. You read as Aesir, however my data suggests you're a mutation."

Loki hadn't expected to be called a  _mutation_  and he found himself offended. Tony snorted.

"You'd think you'd be called a mutation when you were  _blue_ ," he said and reached for his drink. Loki had wisely asked their bartender for something non-alcholic. They would need to stock up on water for the human, who needed it more than the other three travelers.

"Watch it," Nebula snapped. "Blue is a fairly common species color."

"Doesn't make it any less weird," Tony muttered.

"It does, your human mind is just incapable of accepting what's different from itself."

"One of my best friends is green!"

"No," Loki replied, tilting his glass towards Stark, "you're friends with Banner, who looks like you. I get along better with the Hulk than you do, these days."

Tony looked up at Loki through somewhat squinted eyes, clearly bewildered. Loki smirked and chuckled lowly.

"Ah, I see he didn't tell you too much about his role in saving Asgard or the brief time spent on our ship before Thanos…" Loki sighed, "well, nevermind. Stories for a different day. I'm going to turn in before the cat takes over my bed. Tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow. Get Cass before lunch for the meeting," Nebula said.

"Why do I have to get her?" Loki balked as he stood and pushed his chair in.

"She's your rescuer. She's your problem."

000

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: Eh, the ending isn't exciting. Just wanted to drop some information. Also, if you're familiar with Sailor Moon, I picture the bar as the bar the Amazon Trio chills in when sorting through targets, with the same sax music in the background all of the time. This story is just going to some strange places. DnD in spppaaaceeeee. I'm anticipating 2 to 3 more chapters in space. If I keep my current pace, they should be on Earth by the end of next week =)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Playing catch up and uploading multiple chapters..

"Cass!" Loki shouted, pounding on the door. "Why is the door locked? You were here  _alone_!"

He had done his duty and returned to the ship to get Cass and drop off Kylepo in the event they needed to make a quick getaway again. He hoped that it wouldn't be the case—the ships on the satellite were certainly equipped to give chase if it came down to it. However upon returning, he found that Cass had locked herself in the sleeping quarters, which was strange because they never locked the door.

Loki had started to put in the bypass code, which had had figured out one night when he was bored, when the door slid open with a hiss. The room was dark, but Cass's brown eyes shined up at him. It caught him so off guard that he stepped back. "What are you doing? We have our appointment with the seller."

"Feels better to sleep without a disguise," Cass replied, her voice quiet. "You know how it is."

Loki frowned. He didn't like her implication that they were even remotely similar. "So you locked the door? There was no one else here."

Ash shrugged and stepped into the light of the main chamber, grabbing her slightly over sized jacket from the back of one of the seats. "I didn't want you to see when you came in."

Kylepo swatted at her as she walked by the other seat he had jumped up on, but she slapped his paw away. Loki watched as she walked towards the exit, shrugging on her jacket. As she stepped outside, he took a peek into the room, verified that nothing was amiss, and followed after her. He had seen her in what he assumed as her  _true form_  when he had accidentally killed her back on the farm. Albeit for only a moment and in the dark. He knew she was small framed, with messy black hair, and scarred—but he hadn't gotten that good a look at her. Perhaps she was really quite hideous—it would certain reflect her attitude.

She walked ahead of him at a casual pace that he could have caught up to, but he did not. He preferred to stay a few paces behind her so that there was no chance of conversation. They went to their meeting place, the stand with the fried eggs, and ate a quick lunch. Tony still wasn't doing well.

"I haven't been this hung over since college after homecoming week," he muttered and picked at his food.

"What did you think alien alcohol was going to do to you?" Cass asked and placed her order.

"I dunno. You live and you learn, I guess."

"Your weak human form can't take much. You may be doing less living if you aren't careful." Cass replied.

Their appointment wasn't far away. There was a large, impressive looking building—and they were right across from it, in a warehouse. Nebula led them to the entrance, which she was presumably familiar with. There were large, imposing guards standing at the door, and they pat each one of the four travelers down to ensure they weren't carrying any weapons—though it was pretty much useless since Loki could summon up weapons as he pleased and Nebula practically  _was_  a weapon. Then there was Tony and his housing unit for his Ironman suit. No one could tell that he was well armed either. Overall, they looked entirely inconspicuous.

Still, they pat them down, one by one. Nebula got a fairly quick pat down, perhaps too quick—one of the guards looked rather uncomfortable. If Loki were to guess, they had tried to be more thorough the last time Nebula had walked through, and it hadn't ended well.

Tony was next. "Bet this your favorite part of the job, isn't it big guy. Search away. I'm clean."

They made Cass take off her jacket. It was too big and she was rather petite. It hid too much. With a loud sigh, she pulled the baggy jacket off, held her hands out, and showed that there was nothing in her tanktop.

Loki brought up the rear. They pat him down, which he was not pleased about, but of course, they made things awkward. As they patted up his leg, they stopped and patted again. "Not a gun, mate," Loki replied in irritation.

All three of his companions turned around to look at him, Nebula and Tony raising brows at him.

"I'm a literal giant, if you've forgotten. Take that into consideration while you imagine my anatomy."

"God, this puts so many images in my head that I  _so_  did not want," Tony said and walked ahead with Nebula.

"Now, now, Stark, no need for envy, it isn't your fault that humans are so… tiny," Loki replied and trailed after the team , a small smirk dancing on his lips. Tony muttered about his playboy status on Earth, but Loki chose not to respond.

The warehouse entrance led into a small entryway with a woman sitting behind a window. She had what Loki equated to horn rimmed glasses and hair in a curved updo. She hummed at them when they entered, but pressed something that sounded a buzzer and opened the double doors for the group. Another guard met them just passed the double doors and led them through the open warehouse—where Loki was quite certain some sort of drug was being refined by rows of workers—and to a metal staircase.

Up they went to an office that overlooked the warehouse.

The office was filled with monitors that zoomed into different areas, presumably watching the workers. There was a large, brushed metal desk with a short, squat creature who had a very large, protruding jaw with unnecessarily large fangs.

"You got the funds, Blue?"

"Fifteen hundred creds, as agreed upon," Nebula replied. She reached into one of the front pockets of her jacket and pulled out a currency driver. The creature, Mister Mordrax according to the name plate, held out his hands. "Driver first."

"What do you think, that I'm just going to take your word for it? Not a chance, sweetheart, gotta verify that first."

"What insurance do we have that you aren't going to drain the chip and claim it's empty?" Loki asked, knowing full well what he would do in the same cirmcumstances.

"None," Mister Mordrax responded in a bark, "but I'm a honorable businessman, and doing back on my word is bad for business."

"Says someone refining Banow for mercenary missiles," Cass muttered and hopped up onto the ledge of the window to watch the workers. "Think you're losing one of them over there—yup, the green one just collapsed."

The short creature behind the desk growled and reached over to a control panel to zoom into one of the aisles, and indeed, one of the workers was on the ground. He pressed an intercom and gave a codeword, which Loki assumed would send someone to take care of the downed worker. "If you have a problem with my business, feel free to leave. Good luck finding someone with the driver to get to such a backwater sector."

Nebula threw the chip down and Mister Mordrax took it. He popped it into a small machine to verify the funds on the chip.

While he did, Loki glanced over at Cass and then at the screens, watching as one of the guards came out to grab the fallen worker and drag them to the back. Banow was metal found in certain asteroid belts that was shaved down to but in missiles with a reactive compound. When they hit their target, it unleashed a deadly gas that corroded the lungs and eyes in seconds, and destroyed the body of its victims if let to sit.

It was generally only used by mercenaries, since it was banned in intergalactic conventions, but incredibly effective in warfare regardless.

Loki knew what it was since he was involved in politics from a young age—but he couldn't identify it by a simple walk by. He found it… curious… that Cass picked up on it.

"It's good," Mordtrax grunted. He opened one of his desk drawers and slid another driver, about half the length of Loki's palm, over to Nebula. She took it, looked it over, and put it into her breast pocket. She did not thank him.

Nebula stood and started towards the door, but Loki did not follow.

"That's a DL3 driver," Loki said, causing Nebula to stop. "They have the silver connectors. What does our ship run on?"

He could hear the woman groan under her breath. "DS9."

"Not surprising," Mister Mordrax said, a slight smirk on his face—it was hardly flattering with his large jaw and fangs. "No one uses DL3s anymore. You're going to need a converter."

"How much is that going to cost, Grumpy?" Tony asked, flopping down into a chair. "Boy am I having flashbacks to my arms dealing days… Any chance you're interested in reforming."

"Not at all. Another fifteen-hundred will do."

There was a collective groan. "Fifteen-hundred? We just gave you everything we had. We don't even have the funds to try to make more," Nebula snapped. She turned around and slammed her hands down on the desk. Her metal pieces clanked loudly.

Mister Mordrax placed his hand over a large red button and raised a brow at her, clearly threatening to call in his goons. Though Loki was confident they could take them on, that wouldn't help them get the converter. Nebula stared him down, and he caressed the button. With a growl, she stood up and turned around, giving a nod to Cass.

From her oversized jacket, Cass pulled out the stolen necklace and tossed it onto the desk. It slid across the metal and Mordrax caught it.

"Not bad… but still not going to cut it. Still need a thousand."

Loki sighed and turned around. He wasn't eager to show off how far his magic had recovered but…

"What kind of scam are you running?" Tony snapped, "you could have told us  _before_  we came back. At least then we would have had the chance to get what you wanted. What do you want us to do to make up the difference, huh?"

Mordrax chuckled. "Well, I'm down an employee… Pull a few shifts in my warehouse and—"

"Not a chance," Tony growled, "we won't be part of manufacturing missiles or whatever you're doing."

"Well then, good luck—"

"We'll give you this," Loki said, and held out a bottle of wine. It was one of the last Revvyat bottles that he and Cass had taken with them. He had two stashed in his pocket dimension with the Asgardian weapons, but he hadn't wanted to reveal he had access to it.

Cass jumped off of her spot on the ledge, "that isn't  _yours_  to trade." She scowled at him and quite honestly, it made Loki grin.

"And my people's belongings weren't  _yours_  to take, so you have no room to speak. A bottle of Revvyat wine for the converter," Loki said and took a step forward. He set it on the desk but did not let go of the neck of the bottle, even as Mordrax tried to take it.

"This can't be real."

"I assure you it is. I've had the pleasure of consuming some of its sister bottles," Loki said and rotated the bottle a bit so that Mordrax could see the label.

He inspected it, his grubby little fingers twitching. He growled. "Two bottles."

"No," both Loki and Cass said simultaneously.

"One bottle, or we leave and we'll find a buyer for it. As you can imagine, it won't be hard to find a buyer to give us  _at least_  fifteen hundred creds." Loki pulled the bottle a bit, but Mordrax wasn't letting go. "Do we have a deal?"

Mordrax eyes his red button.

"I assure you, we are far more competent than we look, and I'm sure you wouldn't want any trouble to spill out into your warehouse," Loki said, looking down at Mordrax, who looked back at him with an angry glint in his eyes. "We don't want trouble. We just want to get to our destination."

The two had a stare down for a few moments, but ultimately Loki didn't threaten. It was Mordrax who released the bottle and opened his drawer once more. He pulled out a small device, which Loki recognized as the appropriate converter. He slid it forward a bit and Loki slid the bottle towards Mister Mordrax. It was a tense exchange, but Loki was far quicker than the short creature and took the converter before Mordrax could attempt to take it back.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Loki said and waved his hand. With a brief shimmer, the converter disappeared. He gave a nod to Nebula, who went to the door without a moment's pause. It was best to get out of there before Mordrax could think to stop them.

He did not stand, but the monitors changed to focus on them as they left. Mordrax watched them intently as they quickly exited the warehouse.

"Pick up the pace, they're following us," Nebula said as they headed down an alleyway. Mordrax may not have been keen to have a fight in his place of business, but now that they were clear, all bets were off.

Tony tapped his housing unit for his nano tech, and soon both his hands and arms were covered in armor, ready for a fight. Loki summoned two daggers, just in case. Nebula moved the driver to a slot in her arm, which was a bit unnerving to see, and prepared for hand to hand combat since she had to leave her weapons behind. Cass did nothing. She casually strolled through the alley, hands in her pockets.

They had only managed to get a few blocked before they were cut off from both sides.

"Keep moving forward, better to put them all behind us and get to the ship. How fast can we take off?" Tony asked, sending a repulsor blast as one of the goons in front of them. He went down quickly, not expecting such a blast from someone who was supposed to be unarmed. Loki threw his two daggers forward and downed the second one. Nebula ran forward and jumped, punching the first one square between the eyes as he attempted to stand again. Loki retrieved his daggers to save from continuously summoning new ones and turned, throwing them at the two goons running at them from behind. It hit one in the chest, stopping him, and hit the second in the shoulder—slowing, but not stopping the goon entirely.

There were more uniformed individuals following them, but the alleyway opened up to a main street and there was going to be collateral damage very quickly.

"I'll get the ship ready. Don't get too beat up, kids," Cass said and side stepped into the main street.

"What, you're leaving us!?" Loki snapped, but Cass was gone. Her clothes were laying in the street way, and there was a  _caw_  above him. He glanced up to see a large, black bird soaring over their heads in the direction of the shipyard. "Useless, little…"

It was so much harder to fight when he was being conscious of the people around him. He shoved individuals to the ground, left and right, trying to keep them out of the way as weapons blasted at his back. One of them hit him as he shoved a child into a stand, burning his shoulder. He hissed and unleashed a barrage of daggers in anger, taking down three attackers.

If he could simply  _not care_  then it would be so much easier… But he had seen enough death for a while and wasn't interested in being the reason for bloodshed for even more. Nebula got separated from him and Stark, but he was confident she could get back on her own. The majority of the goons had gone after him anyhow, since he was the one with the wine that Mordrax wanted anyhow.

It took much longer than he would have liked, but they made it. The ship was ready to go, Cass was sitting unclothed in one of the pilot's chairs, waiting for them. Nebula was coming into the shipyard from another entrance, with goons on her trail. Loki and Tony ran back outside, sending daggers and repulsor blasts to the attackers, dodging blasts as they went. A chunk of Nebula's leg was badly burned and she was having problems running.

Loki created a simulacrum and sent it near to her, diverting some of the attacks to his false form, giving her enough of an opening to make a dash for the ship.

Soon, they were on board, and Cass was closing up the entrance.

"I'm just going to jump in a random direction. We'll load the driver when we're clear," Cass said, and that was all the warning they got before the ship lurched forward, sending them crashing into the back wall. Having to do a quick lift off from their spot with little room to properly thrust was not smooth, but Cass managed. Just as they were about to clear the satellite, there was a jolt as something hit them.

"They're shooting at us," Nebula shouted.

"Jumping in three, two, one," Cass replied calmly and then they were gone.

Loki hoped that they would be able to have a normal take off from at least one of their stops, but he knew they wouldn't be so lucky. It seemed fate was trying to stop them, though, perhaps, fate wasn't trying very hard at all.

000

**Author's Notes:** I've been pretty good about posting every dayish for a bit, but that may be going away. I will... do my best not to disappear again for six months! Unfortunately, once I start something new, I tend do go at it full force until I get bored, so... That tends to eat up my drive to work on other projects. Anyhow, Loki may not be the pilot/party leader (that's left to Nebula who has the most experience with space travel and navigating the seedy underworld discreetly.) However based on how easily he could pilot different ships without much time to learn, I do figure he has extensive flight knowledge. If you're wondering why Loki still feels the need to conserve his magic-it's be cause he is not in top shape. But, since he does not know the reason for that, you, the reader, do not know that either. A planned scene should explain it, however. Remember that Tony is only human, and though Peter Quill is as well, he has some exceptional parentage. Tony is totally at a disadvantage when it comes to dealing with alien life.


	11. Chapter 11

000   
  
Though they managed to clear the satellite and even head in the right direction by chance, the Milano was damaged. It wasn't severe, but it was enough that Nebula wasn't comfortable jumping a large distance again without having the chance to makes sure vital pieces of the ship were repaired. Tony was confident that his nanotech could patch up any holes, but they would need to land first since he couldn't risk leaving holes in his own suit by giving away too many of his little nanos.   
  
"It looks like there's a planet coming up that we should be able to land on. The driver doesn't have much data, and there are no active communication lines, but it does appear that this had some small settlements at one time or another," Loki said as he zoomed in on a nearby planet. Their converted driver pulled up a few images of an arid environment with a rather low population. Loki suspected it was rather outdated.   
  
"Are there any landing guides or would we be flying blind?" Nebula asked.   
  
"It… appears that there are some which would make it far easier for us and would minimize any further damage upon entering the atmosphere, but I don't think we'll be getting any help. Though, if you think that's a problem, then Earth is certainly going to be an issue. They are severely lacking in technology," Loki replied and sat back, letting Nebula lean over and poke around the screen.   
  
"Hey! Not all of Earth," Tony snapped from behind Loki.   
  
"Fine, most of Earth is lacking, is that better? It doesn't change the fact that there will be no prepared area for an incoming ship."   
  
"That didn't stop Thanos's lackies from just… popping on into New York," Tony muttered.   
  
"Thanos's main ship was as large as Asgard," Loki replied bitterly, "we're in a small vessel made for roguish antics. So, Nebula, would you like to take the controls, or shall I show off my impressive piloting abilities?"   
  
"Move."   
  
Loki obliged, but mostly because he was more willing to prepare himself for a rough landing from a passenger seat than be distracted with the controls. Nebula took over and lined them up with an old, outdated landing path as specified by their driver, and down they went.   
  
It was a bit rough and there was a scratching sound that Loki didn't particularly like—most likely indicating a further need for repairs. But after they cleared the clouds, they found that the surface was large bare and flat, with little in their way. Nebula piloted quite expertly, and their touchdown was practically feather soft, all things considered.   
  
"We can't stay too long," Nebula said, "we don't have enough rations for an extended trip, and there isn't much between here and Earth."   
  
"If we kill and eat you Cass, will you come back from that?" Loki said, a brow raised. He was disappointed to find her reaction wasn't one of total disgust.   
  
"The last group that tried that found I didn't taste very good and quickly died from eating rancid meat. I imagine a Jotun and a Human wouldn't fare much better," she said and unbuckled herself from her seat. Tony was staring at her, his jaw a bit agape as if trying to determine if she was serious.   
  
"Horns said you couldn't die… Seriously? Someone tried to eat you?"   
  
"Many have. I've been around for a very long time."   
  
"As appetizing as this conversation may be, I'm opening the door. No signs of life in the greater vicinity," Nebula said and unbuckled herself. Once the door was open, Kylepo was the first one to venture off, eager sniff about the ship.   
  
"I assume this place is fine for a weak human, yeah?" Tony said, taking a few steps further into the ship, just in case. "You know, no toxic fumes or whatever?"   
  
"If you could handle Titan, you can handle this—though the solar radiation levels are a bit higher. May want to stay out of the sun as much as possible."   
  
Loki stepped off the ship and had to squint his eyes. He knew immediately that if he slipped into his Jotun form, he would be in some severe discomfort. It was warm—no it was hot and not just by his Jotun standards. He would be surprised if Stark would be able to handle the atmosphere for too long. Beyond their landing area, which looked like it had probably been the main point of traffic who knows how long ago, there were some large hangers in the distance and a communications base, if Loki were to guess by the tower on top of it.   
  
It took a while for Loki's eyes to adjust to the brightness and the light that reflected off the sand and rock on the surface, but he saw that there were actually ships—or, what he supposed were the remnants of ships—littering the area. Most were completely decrepit, having been left to the elements for so long, and covered in dirt and sand.   
  
Tony followed after Loki, wearing his full Iron man suit, just in case. "Yeah, the radiation level is higher than Earth's but not exactly Chernobyl. Guess I'll plan on being on ship duty. I'm going to stretch my legs, then start repairs."   
  
Loki made a beeline for the communication tower. He may not have had the same health risks as Stark, but he wasn't eager to hang out in the direct sunlight either. The tower was a fair distance away, and he was sweating by the time he reached the door. When he did, he took a pause before entering.   
  
"Looks like something pretty large forced its way in," Cass said from behind him. He had heard her walking but didn't feel the need to slow down for her to catch up.   
  
There were scratching on the metal door to the communications tower. Loki reached out and ran his fingers over a set, finding that their spacing seemed indicative of claws. "I don't suppose something could be living inside of there, do you? Shelter or not, there doesn't seem to be anything around here for leagues."   
  
Cass shrugged, he could tell by her shadow, "dunno. Want me to go first and protect you from a big bad monster?"   
  
Loki stepped to the side and swept his arm out. "Why not? After you. If something jumps out of a closet, I'll throw you at it."   
  
Cass pushed the door open and walked inside without any hesitation. Loki presumed that the people who had previously lived or worked at the station were on the smaller end. He had to duck to get through the door and remained hunched as he walked behind Cass, whose petite frame had no problem in the corridors.   
  
They entered into what appeared to be a waiting room. There were a few chairs that were strewn to the side and a broken glass window with a desk behind it. Loki imagined a receptionist would have worked there, buzzing people into the rest of the building. A glance through the broken glass showed him that there was a jacket of sorts still hung up on the door into the little room and even, what he assumed, was a lunchbox.   
  
Cass went through the next door as well, which had also been forced open. It led into a larger room with a few cubicles, one of which had been torn apart entirely. There were doors on the other side of the room, to Loki's left, and a door across from him. He looked around the cubicles a bit and found that there wasn't anything of interest. Machines akin to computers, a few personal belongings, rolling chairs… Nothing interesting. He wanted to take a look at the cubicles on the far end, seeing that they were particularly torn up, but Cass continued on, and he chose to stay with her, just in case he wanted a shield.   
  
Through the next door they went, which led to a long hallway leading to the left with windows lining one side—most of which were broken. Sand had blown in, covering most of the ground, but it was still fairly easy to walk through.   
  
"I'm going to have sand all in my boots," Loki muttered and scowled, shaking his foot a bit to move what had already built up around. When he stood properly again, he heard a crunch. "Oh, that didn't sound good."   
  
Cass stopped and turned around as he knelt down and brushed the sand off of whatever he stepped on. He would have assumed it was glass, but it sounded an awful lot like—"bone."   
  
Loki nodded in agreement. Was it an animal bone, or did it belong to the former residents? He held it up-it was certainly long dead. He dropped it and wiped his hand on the side of his trousers before they continued onward, down to the end of the hallway. There, they reached a door with the same series of scratches, but it was closed.   
  
Cass reached out and tried the door. "This one's locked. You want to give it a go with your immense Jotun strength?" She stepped aside and Loki gave her a bit of sneer, sensing sarcasm in her voice.   
  
He tried the door again and found it was, indeed, locked. Not only that, but a shake of the door led him to believe that it was reinforced. Judging by the way the sand piled at his feet, and the fact that this door swung into the hallway instead of into whatever was on the other side, Loki figured it hadn't been opened in sometime.   
  
Taking a step back, he kicked the door, breaking the lock and part of the door frame. It swung open and Cass walked inside, looking thoroughly unimpressed.   
  
"Looks like we've found the inhabitants."   
  
Loki looked into the room, which wasn't hard since he stood a head taller than Cass, and saw that there were a few skeletons littering the room. Loki furrowed his nose, expecting to smell decay, but there was nothing. The windows in this room had a few broken pieces, enough that the room had aired out over however long they had been there.   
  
There were seven of them, vaguely humanoid, but very short and with tails. One the piles of bones seemed smaller than the others, leading Loki to believe it was a child. Cass walked in, callously stepping on and kicking around bones, to look out the window.   
  
"There's an opening below here. I'd guess an underground hatch or something. It's opened. Probably why nothing could get in from the windows. Too far down with the hatch." She looked for a moment or two, then turned around to bend down and pick through the clothing of the one closest to her.   
  
"Could you… just not?" Loki said in irritation, raising his hand and closing his eyes. He had seen war, he had seen corpses—he had made quite a few himself. But he was not one to go looting through bodies on the average day. All he saw were the dead Asgardians he had failed to save, and the image of Cass picking through their remains.   
  
"They're dead. They've been dead for decades." She pulled a gold colored necklace off of one of the skeletons propped against the wall, causing the skull to fall off with a crash. It was brittle enough that it broke into pieces. She stood and took a step towards Loki.   
  
He opened his eyes and clenched his jaw. She looked at him like he was an impertinent child, like it was ridiculous that he didn't feel the need to desecrate a family of corpses that had locked themselves in a room to die, alone, on an unforgiving planet. He grabbed her by the collar of her jacket in an instant and then launched her towards the windows. They, too, were brittle, and shattered upon impact. Out she went without so much as a scream.   
  
Loki stepped around the bones to peer out the window, but saw that he could see far enough into the hatch to see where she had landed.   
  
He'd go get her out later.   
  
Maybe.   
  
For now, he needed some peace and quiet.   
  
000   


Author's Notes: I was going to continue on a bit longer, but I decided to end it there so that you could all revel in Cass getting thrown out a window. Some of you may say that Loki may be too emotional when it comes to random skeletons, but I do feel like he is likely suffering from PTSD. I feel like he always fiercely loved the Asgardian people, which was evident by how much he wanted to rule them. It was the greatest honor to him. Also, he didn't have to take his escape ship to Asgard, knowing full well Hela was destroying it and he could die, but he chose to go save them anyhow. Loki doesn't know how to grieve properly, so it comes out at, perhaps, inopportune moments.

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Notes: After seeing the movie twice, I was determined to do something to quell my anger. I was so incredibly upset that Loki died so dang quickly! So, this is my version of the events that happen immediately after Infinity Wars. A few things to note about this story:
> 
> *Romance will be very minimal if it is non-canon. Don’t be thrown off by the immediate introduction of a female original character. This isn’t a Loki-romance story. The other characters who are alive as of the end of Infinity Wars will be appearing and playing a big part. Though this story centers around Loki, it is an Avengers fanfiction. 
> 
> *I’m like a CLAMP writer. I love to reuse characters. You may find it annoying but if you’ve read other works of mine, you may find some overlap. 
> 
> So, thanks for reading! We’ll see if my frustration is enough of a motivator to keep me updating!
> 
> Ever your servant, 
> 
> A.F


End file.
